Dog Fight
by unusualjuggernaut
Summary: Alarice Stone finds herself out of her element when She finally gets accepted in 1-A, as a transfer from the States. She must learn how to adapt and survive to her new living situation in UA. (bit of an AU) TW: Violence to Children, Mentions eugenics, some spoilers for anime-only,
1. Oh Hello

Chapter 1

"Oh, Hello"

The first hint class 1-A had that something was up were the moving boxes in their dormitory's receiving area. There were a strange pair of individuals, one with bright burning red eyes, and an individual who looked like a harpy, handling them. With their 'guest' name tags on, they were polite and pleasant, to the few who had a chance to talk to them. Asui had tried upon getting such a chance herself. The red-eyed one was named Prometheus, and the Harpy, Icarus: Hero names. They only said they were moving folks, lending a helping hand.

The second hint was that Aizawa was looking just a little more tired than usual. Which really wasn't much of a hint and was widely dismissed.

"Maybe it's prep for some kind of exercise?" Uraraka asked, wondering if anyone had gotten any more clues, "or some kind of test?"

"No, I don't think so, the boxes did have somebody's name on them," Midoriya stated, having actually managed to glance at the boxes, "it looked like an English name."

Someone heard Mineta mumble something about hoping it was a 'hot American transfer student', which started the prompt action of ignoring his existence again for a while.

This subtle mystery went on for two weeks. With no one to put as the owner of the boxes, or their contents, students of 1-A were slightly puzzled. Or, in a few cases, simply didn't care. There had been a few oddball things here and there in the dorms, but the focus, and main oddness, had simply been the boxes themselves.

Iida arrived at 1-A that morning; startled, only slightly, by the fact he wasn't the first into class: there was someone else already here. Sitting there, as if she was just as usual a part of the empty classroom as the chairs themselves, she didn't jump at his start. The two awkwardly stared at each other for a brief moment.

Her hair was dark and shaved on either side. The rest of it was in long tight cords, bundled together. The length was so that, even done up, it went slightly past her shoulders. Her eyes reminded him of Ashido's, except there was ghostly white in these eyes, where hers had pink.

Iida broke out of this stunned silence, making his way to her quickly, if a bit stiffly in posture. "I apologize for my questioning, but who are you?"

Perhaps she was a confused, or a lost 'general studies' student? He'd never seen her before, however, but he'd also not met all of 'general studies'. As she stood, he remembered the moving boxes and the few strange things that had occurred in the dorms... "I'm Stone, Alarice. I'm supposed to be joining your class for a while. It's nice to meet you."

Iida blinked, nodded and greeted her back. "I'm Iida Tenya, Class president of 1-A. I apologize again that we haven't been properly introduced."

Alarice looked back at him, almost confused, before quietly responding, "I was moved in two weeks ago, but I was told not to get attached, since I wasn't guaranteed until yesterday."

He stared back at her, blinking once again. She mirrored his look right back at him. "I tried very hard not disrupt any one's routines," she added.

Somehow, that just added on to his confusion. Before he could question her any further, his classmates started to filter in. Iida considered what she'd told him and compared it with what he did know about their homeroom teacher.

Uraraka was just as surprised to meet this new 'classmate' as Iida was. Though Alarice's greeting for her was just as forcedly polite as it had been for him. Asui was friendly enough when greeting Alarice that she seemed to respond in kind.

Meeting her new classmates was going far smoother than Alarice would have thought it would. A lot easier than the two weeks of what was essentially constant testing and evaluation. Though she wasn't about to start talking about that with them just yet. Even if they were nice now, there was no guarantee they'd be nice later, when 1-A eventually learned what all her previous classmates had learned about her.

Kaminari was the first to start pressing for answers, Alarice looking increasingly like a statue as he continued, blind to it.

"So, what's your quirk? Did you get to give yourself your Hero name yet?" He was all energy, perhaps perked up by getting to meet someone new.

Midoriya was already armed with his notebook, though he had largely greeted her entirely politely and appropriately before starting on his notes for his new classmate. He too now waited on her answer about her quirk.

"I just have a simple transformation quirk," she said quietly, restrained, and finally relaxing just a touch. "I also have, yes, I took my mother's Hero name, Arariel"

"Arariel?" Someone asked, the name sounding a little awkward when said in Japanese. Alarice felt a little bad about it infact.

"It's the name of an angel related to fishing usually, but you can also invoke her as a cure for stupidity. Mom thought it was kind of clever", Alarice said with a somewhat forced smile. Jiro was smirking to herself as she got comfortable in her own chair, "good, you can cure Mineta of his."

There were a few giggles at the grape-child Mineta's expense, who had only just come in, and found his wish was only somewhat granted: she was a transfer student. A transfer student he would hardly classify as 'hot' or 'sexy'. More like strongly athletic and nothing else.

Meeting the rest of 1-A was cut short, as the sliding door opened and in walked Aizawa.

Despite his sleepy appearance, he was keenly aware of his student's actions, having heard their conversations as he had walked in. He eyed his new and temporary one, gauging the way she was carrying herself when interacting with the other students. The rest had neatly and quickly sorted themselves into their seats.

"Now that we're all together, it's time to start class," A hand shot up. "Yes, Iida?"

"Sensei, if I may ask, why didn't you introduce us earlier?"

Aizawa paused for a moment, his face a mask, "she was moved in two weeks ago, directly into 1-A's dormitory."

His tone had a slight scolding note to it, but he didn't voice his slight disappointment that they hadn't noticed her for themselves earlier on. Then he looked to Alarice, with whom he'd spent a good portion of his extra time working with, who sat like a good student would. As if she'd always been there. He'd observed this talent of hers, to blend in and avoid attention as much as possible. Still... he'd only told her "don't get too attached to your new classmates" when she'd started, to get the best work he could out of her. Aizawa hadn't expected her to hide in the dorm like some kind of vagrant, desperate to not get caught by the building's owners. He'd expected her to actually mingle, like kids do with each other.

It was somewhat impressive, though there was obvious camera and security evidence that showed she was definitely living in the UA dorms. The Homeroom teacher let out a deep sigh and skipped the issue entirely to get a move on with someone he was actually going to introduce.

"With that time wasted, I do have an important guest for you kids to meet today," he gestured to the door. In walks a woman with golden looking skin, and gold colored hair, and bright eyes. Statuesque, literally. "Class, this is Miss Sunshine, she'll be here for a while, to inform you on the nature of international heroes."

"Hello, it's so nice to meet you all. I've heard a lot about this class!" She gave a polite little bow of greeting to them, her long golden locks shifting forward as she did so. With the two Heroes currently standing so close to each other, their differences in personality type were visible like the black of space and the bright sun. Acting, of course, like the darkness when faced with light, Aizawa pulled out that familiar yellow cocoon of his.

"Miss Sunshine here will be answering your questions for a bit."

Mina Ashido was the first to question the newcomer. "What's the difference with an international hero?"

"An international hero has multiple licenses to operate in multiple countries." Sunshine said casually, but without condescension. There was no guarantee whose textbooks said what about what 'kinds' of heroes did what, or what their titles meant. "Every country, as you. Wknow, has its own rules it wishes its heroes to abide by. As an International Hero, I have had to obtain multiple licenses through the governments themselves, as well as a literal international license to operate where I am needed."

"Does this mean you also help out heroes who primarily work in the oceans?" Tsuyu asked, recalling her time interning with Selkie, on the Oki Mariner. There was mention of other ocean and water-based heroes who patrolled primarily international waters, where laws were the most difficult to enforce, and crime easier to commit.

"Observant! Yes, the vast majority of international heroes do work within the oceans. Though we also work in areas where established governments either have very little power or where there is no established government." Sunshine gave a nod to another student who raised their hand to ask her another question.

"So, you can just go where ever you want and use your quirk?"

"Not really no. While it is still at my discretion, I do still need to be aware of where I am and the rules, and there are some places I need to have a real documented reason to be there." Sunshine gave a soft sigh, "Most of the time, I am asked to assist by my fellow heroes in areas where they may not be allowed, or by governments with international issues."

"So, were you invited here to Japan then?" Jiro asked, slightly curious about this golden statue woman.

"I was, indeed, by your school principal." She smiled a wide smile, friendly and warm. Alarice shifted slightly, likely her own admittance had been part of that 'invite' by principal Nezu. Sunshine had, and continued to do, an immense amount of work to help her out.

Despite the questions that continued to flow from her classmates, many about the guest's quirk, about the states, and many other subjects, no one seemed to want to know if Alarice and Sunshine were connected. A small relief for both parties.

Alarice herself remained silent, and quietly pleased she was finally going to be getting real help. Hell, she already had made progress enough to be allowed in properly.

Aizawa and Sunshine stood shoulder to shoulder, on the grass watching as the students ran the track. Physical ability was important, regardless of quirk; therefore exercise, endurance and stamina were always being worked on.

Sunshine could barely hold back a smile. "I did warn you about how she was with others."

He scoffed at her, as if he had really intended to give Alarice an excuse to avoid having to talk to other students.

"So, how did she do?"

"Her lack of skill with her own quirk is pathetic." He stated plainly, watching his students with a casual eye to see which ones weren't keeping up. "Her hesitation to use it is a hindrance she'll have to overcome further if she wants to stay here. Let alone that licensing situation you told me about back in the states."

Sunshine nodded to his statements. "I hope she continues to grasp this chance we're giving her, and not let what others see hold her back."

He shifted now, slightly, making some gesture towards one of his students for them to go for another lap. "Why'd you bring her here, Sunshine? Do all this work to get her here? Why me?"

The sudden direct questioning seemed to catch her off guard for a moment, as she went quiet, watching Alarice run. The UA uniforms looked good on her, so much better than the previous school she'd been housed at. "Aside from that favor you've owed me?"

He made a noise of annoyance.

"I knew her family, Aizawa. Helped her mother, with her father when he chose to inform on what had been going on in the Coyote Noirs. I'm sure you are at least somewhat aware of the Coyote Noirs' _Hellhound breeding program._" She paused to shift her weight. "That's her so called family history: paperwork that calls her grandmother a bitch, and the grandfather a sire. Like animals. Neat little numbers to organize who from who on the family tree, rather than names. Alarice excluded, technically, as Jonathan's turn to the other side meant she was spared that."

He was quiet, though she seemed willing to give him the rest, so he kept his mouth shut and listened. Not that doing either was a hard challenge for him.

"There were a lot of children, a lot of innocent people who were finally allowed freedom... only to find out that they had an uphill battle of prejudice to fight. I'm fairly certain it was a result of Coyote Noir directly, some method of keeping their hounds loyal to them, and them alone. Jonathan's move to inform on them was really the first time people probably heard that they weren't human-devouring beasts, slaves to their own quirk's maliciousness." She gave a tired sigh of someone who had to defend her young 'niece' multiple times from such misguided statements. "It was easier, once Jonathan started working with Miranda. Arariel was her pro hero name, on a strict license. Someone, a known hellhound, working for the people, helping... it did some good. The information, the real documentation on the quirk was finally known, it lessened, but the stereotype remains."

"And the Coyote Noirs?"

"They took a huge hit, and they're mostly gone now, but an organization as old as they were, doesn't die so easily. They're still kicking, it's part of why I picked UA. UA has a good history with producing good heroes, and it's in Japan, where the Coyote Noir's reach had been weakest. This is also a place that only knows the victims: there were no active hellhounds from here. A lot of freed ones came back here to where their homes had been, and more immigrated once they realized Japan was more accepting of them than their other homes. Coming here was a chance: both for her goals and for her mental health. Isolation isn't good for any one."

"Alright, so why you, and not the girl's parents themselves?" He asked.

"Miranda's dead." Sunshine stated, her voice losing some of the warmth it seemed to naturally carry. "Jonathan's wheelchair bound, same attack that killed her. It's not uncommon for heroes to die in the field, or to be maimed into disability for their work. He couldn't take care of her, and we both have our suspicions about the attack that ended their work. So, he asked me to take care of her. I couldn't say no. I'd known Miranda since before Alarice was born, so, here we are."

The kids were coming around for their last lap around the track. Aizawa silently considered what he was told about his new temporary pupil. Her file contained some of this, but mostly bare-bones type information, things about her quirk, primarily. How it worked, functioned, and more importantly, its own variation on the standard 'hell-hound'.

"So, her mother's quirk was Adaption." He said, rather stiffly. Sunshine nodded.

"The Hellhound quirk has taken her mother's quirk and made it its own. Added into what it carried before, a giant-type Hellhound with Adaption." Sunshine added. "Only when she's a hound though, she can't use it as a human."

"I take it you tried to test it a few times yourself, Sunshine?"

"I did but, I admit, I wasn't very keen to do so, I could still permanently blind her if I wasn't careful about it. How has your testing of it gone?"

He shrugged, "It went well enough to prove what the paperwork said was true."

The pair were silent for a moment, just watching, observing, thinking about what had been said. Aizawa broke the silence first, with another question, "Is this really the only reason for you to be here, Sunshine?"

"Well, I mean, I am here to lend UA some of my knowledge and skills to help the students, too." Her voice was too full of humor in response to his question.

"Tch, just don't expect me to treat her any differently than the rest because of her sad backstory," he grumbled out, hands going back to his pockets again.

"I think you'll find that won't be an issue." Sunshine said with that tinge of humor still in her voice, "I did warn her about what I was bringing her into."

He gave her a look somewhere between annoyance and questioning. Sunshine gave a shrug and a smile before answering him, "She just said, 'anything's better than here' and just like that she was on the plane. It probably helps she already knew Japanese."


	2. Lunch time is great

Chapter 2

"Lunch Time is Great"

Alarice loaded up her tray happily with anything that caught her eye, eating was an important part of living and she enjoyed good food. Which was slightly surprising to find in a high-school. Even a Hero High School.

"Why look at this! Now 1-A has an American Transfer all of their own!" A voice filled to its brim with condescension and mock humor. "Could it be that 1-A feels they need to compete 1-B for transfers now too?"

Alarice gave the blond in front of her a glassy-ed look, before walking away from him without another word. That was her class of course, on paper any way, and where she sat her ass in the morning. Either way she didn't have time from some taunting fool in the middle of the lunchroom attracting attention to her she didn't really want just yet.

Whatever else Monoma had to say to her was promptly ignored, before he was dragged off by his class president herself. Unseen by Alarice who was too absorbed in the nagging thought that she had no idea where to sit. Some place outside would probably be preferable to being in the crowded cafeteria. Never-mind who she could sit with, too? Did she even want to share her time and space with people who might not even like her by the end of the day?

She saw an arm sticking up, waving to her for sure. Having no where else to go obviously, Alarice went to the girl who had waved her down. Plopping down into the seat next to Momo Yaoyorzu, whom she had met that morning.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, you looked a little lost for a moment there." Momo responded, before taking a bite of her own food. Alarice noted then, that they both had quite a lot of food on their plates, at least compared to their two table-mates, Mina Ashido and Ochaco Uraraka.

Alarice just gave her a stiff nod, before taking a few bites herself, smiling just a little as she did so. It was good, and it was nice to have fresh food. It would have reminded her of home if any one knew at home knew how to cook.

"Lunch rush does a good job doesn't he?" Momo commented, cheerfully, noticing the way Alarice had piled up her tray, adding; "Trans-formative quirk that takes a lot out of you too, huh?"

Alarice stopped for a moment between her bites to look at Momo with slight confusion. "Yes?" she offered, not sure how to respond to that, worried that the girl was trying to worm the real answer out of her. "I think you told me earlier, but, what was your Quirk... Yaoyorozu?"

"Momo, and, its Creation."

Alarice nodded, trying to be polite, feeling a little rude that she'd had to ask. "I guess we both have to make up for what we use with our quirk." She tried to smile about it.

A silence settled into little gathering of people for lunch. Alarice looked cautiously to her table-mates as the silence began to drag on. Unsure of what to do to keep the conversation going before she became unwelcome. Uraraka beat her to it;

"Iida said you were told not to get attached before today?" Her voice was soft and combined with her appearance, made Uraraka easy to talk to. Alarice found herself increasingly liking her. She didn't even think before answering the question.

"Yes.. um.. I was advised by Aizawa sensei not to get too attached to any one because there wasn't any guarantee he was going to accept me into the class. " Alarice's voice was low, and her cheeks became dusted with pink. Till she noticed the faces of understanding and the nod she was getting from Momo Yaoyorozu.

"Is that.. just how Aizawa-sensei is?"

"Yup." she responded, smiling and nodding, before Momo continued for Uraraka. "He didn't say that, exactly, when we started, but he did tell us any one who failed his expectations on the first day would be expelled."

"He's a man in love with his logical ruses!" Mina Ashido said, in a humorous, if teasing tone to a man not standing (or laying) any where near by.

Alarice took note of Midoriya settling down next to Uraraka with his own food. His notebook with the pencil attached to it landing on the table first before the tray. Uraraka followed Momo's and Mina's statements with some encouragement; "He only says such harsh things to try and get the best he can out of us, he hasn't sent you home so, just keep doing your best in class and you'll be fine!"

Alarice nodded her head, not sure if she believed what she was being told just yet. Quietly munching on her food that she hadn't managed to wolf down yet, despite the conversation. Mina broke the silence this time; "Tell us about the two weeks of testing! We never saw you, what'd you have to do?"

Alarice paused for a second, mid chew, not sure how to respond. "Well, I needed to prove I could cut it to be here, so there was a lot of that. I um, also found out some new things about my transformed state, with my quirk, that hadn't been fully documented yet when they shipped me off." She started to mumble a little bit, it was a small stretch of the truth, before, she cleared her throat. "It's called adaption. It came from my mom, but its not something I can consciously use. So that got tested primarily, usually. There was some other stuff here and there."

She sipped on her drink before continuing, not really comfortable talking about such things around students who probably knew their quirks considerably better than she did despite being of the same age. "Aizawa-Sensei needed to get a baseline I guess, on how it functioned, since I only had an anecdotal story about its use with a student who could form thunderstorms." She stopped again to think about how to explain it. "I guess he didn't want to try possibly electrocuting me right off the bat, to see if I was right that I might be resistant electrical damage now."

"Well, could be bad news for Kaminari... assuming that's she's right and it's permanent now... mm" Midoriya mumbled loud enough that Alarice did hear it, and assumed he was actively participating. Remembering the excitable blonde she met that morning who was very proud of his electrical quirk.

"I mean, that's my working theory at the moment.. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, I guess?" Alarice answered for him.

Midoriya looked a little embarrassed but recovered quickly, some what use to being called out now at this point for getting involved in his notes and mumbling. Alarice flushed herself, realizing his own embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

"So, what did Aizawa-sensei do to get a baseline for it?" Midoriya asked, getting back to eating and thankfully putting the pencil down to focus more on the conversation in front of him. Alarice's flush didn't go away.

"Ohhh, what did you have to do?" Mina offered, encouraged and into this discussion now that they were getting somewhere with their transfer. It also helped that the flush was cute and now Mina definitely needed to know more. 

"He asked Midnight to help him out." Alarice added, fiddling with some of her hair. "I mean it worked I guess, useful data was gotten but it was so, awkward. I mean I guess it was safe, its not like her quirk could hurt me."

Again Alarice found there were knowing nods around her by her new classmates, with the added bonus of Midoriya looking ready to start writing down whatever she had to say next in regard to that quirk function.

"I know what you're talking about, Midnight's an odd character." Momo added, finishing off her plate as soon as she was done talking.

"I wouldn't worry about her either, Alarice! She's all talk, even if its weird talk! She's a really good person once you get past her Hero Persona!" Mina added in again, with a wide smile, and even a little laugh. "So can she no longer put you to sleep, Stone?"

"Yes, I mean only when I'm a he-Transformed." Alarice recovered, her ears turned red this time and she quickly tried to change the subject. "So tell me about you guys, I don't know that much about any of you either!"

Uraraka looked at her a little concerned, even puzzled but Midoriya was the first to acquiesce in some way. Pushing his notebook over to her, in a show of friendship, and perhaps, in solidarity. The way she was acting about her quirk reminded him of his own when it had been 'name-less'. It still technically was, of course, but not as much as it had been when he had started.

"I've got notes on everyone if you want to look at it. Since you're just joining us, maybe you'll find it useful. We are going to have our first exercise after lunch after all." Midoriya's smile was welcoming and reassuring, bringing out one from Alarice too.

"Thank you, I appreciate it, Midoriya." And she spent the rest of her lunch, looking through the hand written pages while the others talked around her.


	3. Fight time but not with dogs

Chapter 3

"Fight time but not with dogs"

The moment she dreaded and was excited for, simultaneously came: Hero training. Her first exercise with the class. She was put at some slight ease after having read the notebook Midoriya had showed to her during lunch. Even a surprisingly fun english class, failed to raise her mood and alleviate that anxiety.

Alarice joined them in their unique and colorful outfits. Sticking out with her nearly completely all black ensemble and odd hood that looked like some variation of Hound dog's muzzle. She noticed Fumikage nodding to her outfit, and she, unsure of how to respond only nodded back. Was it because they were both wearing black?

She steeled herself against the potential for backlash. It would not matter in the long run, would it? No, just a few hurt feelings to overcome and as long as she was still in the school, she could still be a Hero. Besides, there was no guarantee the Hell-hound information that affected her peers in America, would affect peers here. If what Sunshine had said was correct, it was likely that there was even less chance for issues. That said, it was better to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

Nothing could be done for it now, she'd have to play and find out.

Alarice, as she cleared the opening with the rest of her classmates, was still awed after 2 weeks, at the resources at UA's disposal for teaching. It was no wonder that the academy was capable of producing amazing heros when they had small scale cities to use as teaching locations. Empty cities of course.

"Ah! Some of you will remember these boxes!" Alarice just sort looked at the skeleton man with bizarre mixture of discomfort, shame, and vague recognition. The two boxes on either side of him had 'Villain' and 'Hero' written on them in bright colorful letters. He only paused in pulling out names and arranging who-was-going-to-be-what, to explain to Alarice personally what her goals were, since she hadn't done this exercise before. She found his voice pleasant enough and carrying a certain warm tone that again hinted at something familiar. She couldn't quite place it, but she wasn't sure what to think of him at first. She hadn't seen him during her two week trial-run.

Her team, herself and Kirishima, and the other team, Sero and Bakugo were first. Her team would be pretending to be Villains, and Bakugo and Sero were going to be the Heros for this run.

Alarice found herself moving more stiffly than she would have liked when they made it to their location. Reminding herself how her 'catch-up' test/training had gone with Aizawa two weeks prior. Silence settled in before the red-head she was with decided to talk first.

"Stone, right?" He asked, his voice wasn't as unpleasant as she had expected it to be. They hadn't had a chance to greet each other before class that morning. Contrary to what she would have expected from his spiked red-hair, shark-teeth and over all tough-guy exterior, he didn't sound all that scary.

"Yeah, I mean, Arariel now, You?" Alarice asked, Though she had a vague guess from the drawings she'd seen of the corresponding 'heros' in Midoriya's notebook. He'd been far to kind letting her look through it.

"Kirishima, but right now, Red Riot!" His shark-like grin was all pride and a bit of confidence in his name. Alarice found herself just a little bit jealous.

"So you got a Transformation quirk right?" He asked before thinking and adding more before she could respond. "Mine's Hardening, I've fought Bakugo before, just try to leave him to me during this fight alright?"

Alarice felt as if she really had no choice, his tone like that of a man who had a challenge he had to personally deal with. "Alright, I kind of got a bit of an idea earlier on the class's quirks..." He gave her a look that silently was asking her, though she responded before he could inquire: "Midoriya let me read his book during lunch."

Another bit of silence, a nod, something like a smile on his face.

His confidence was very reassuring and she nodded, listening. "So you got a pretty good idea huh?"

"A bit of one. I think." Alarice added, "My form has an adaption factor, for every blast I get dealt, I'm going to feel it less and less, so... I guess we're both pretty sturdy for this fight."

"mm yeah... but Sero and Bakugo are going to have the advantage in mobility.." as he thought about this, Alarice had gotten lower to the ground as if to get into a place to hide. He watched her curiously seem to sniff the air, it was a little strange to watch.

"I can smell something burning..." Alarice offered without explanation. Their opponents were on the wrong side of the wind. "one of them is already in the building and heading up to us."

"Good, Arariel, I've got a plan."

"Get it out quick, once I transform I can't speak to you."

He smiled wide, and told her the plan.

The building shook with the small rumblings of explosions in the building, or outside. The reason could only be the aggressive Bakugo, who practically erupted into the room, with the clear intention of trying to make this go as quickly as possible. Sero came in through one of the windows, having taken the roof approach in order to attack. Kirishima immediately hardened himself and yelled out a challenge that was difficult to hear through all the noise. Getting both of his opponents to focus on him, mostly.

Alarice still un-transformed moved quickly and silently behind Sero, initiating a good throw on him from behind, taking him by total surprise. Thwarting his attempt to use his quirk to take the bomb while Bakugo and Kirishima went at it. He was confused, unable to see her face with that hood of hers down.

She was quick, but so was he, with that initially ridiculous quirk of his. He was difficult to avoid, and clever enough to get around her attempts, managing to tape what looked like a grenade to her leg during their scuffling. Alarice let out an in-human hiss at this realization.

The Hood covered the change in her face, her black eyes seeming to pull back as the skin pushed forward, hardened, and turned into a pale egg-shell like color. Teeth elongated into fangs , changing to meet a more vicious looking, dog-like set of teeth. Sharper perhaps. Ears became long, hair pushed out along her spine, and a tail came out without tearing her suit. Her legs and arms lengthened, shifting into paws, scales and fur coming out and hiding her suit beneath them. The point of her tail split into a clawed-hand like structure. Smoke-like emissions came from wherever her eyes were, invisible behind the hood.

The explosion knocked the scaled dog-thing off its legs for a moment, but it was quick to recover. The sound was too close to that of an injured dog's cry for Sero's comfort.

She repaid him for his 'gift' by headbutting him with her large, hooded head. Even so he wasn't that much easier to catch as he had been before. Alarice managing catch a hold of him, hooking a claw into his suit, almost by chance.

She had focused-in on her fight with Sero, ignoring Kirishima and Bakugo as he had basically asked for. Which ended with Kirishima's mass getting slammed into her side, knocking her off Sero, and onto the floor again. Which her attempt to rise, ended with getting a taste of one of those explosions nearly directly to her face.

She knew that her hood had been ripped apart by that. Her ears ringing and head itself buzzing with pain from such an attack. She wobbled slightly on her feet, snorting out as the dust cleared from around her face, nostrils stinging. She heard Sero scream back at Bakugo that he'd "used to much" , Alarice shook off the ringing and pain to get back into the fight. Take advantage of the shock perhaps, even if she would regret it later, socially.

"Fuck off!" Bakugo snarled back, "I did not!"

He hadn't even really damaged the skull like face on her form, just the hood. She launched herself forward, maw open, jaws catching around one of his absurdly sized gauntlets. Bakugo wasted no time in slamming her with another explosion, in which her grip still remained on his gauntlet, forcing him to release it to not be shaken around like a dog toy. She let out something like a clacking hiss as she dropped it to the ground upon realization. Alarice's attack and hold had allowed Kirishima to get a hit in on Bakugo, and that in turn allowed her to re-focus onto Sero.

The fight went on, Alarice and Kirishima would occasionally trade their opponents in attempt to keep from being captured as the mock Villians, and keep the Heros away from their target.

In the end, they were not able to keep it up, unfortunately. Sitting on the ground defeated, though thanks to their combined toughness, they had less injuries to be treated than the Hero team. Which was mostly just Sero who needed any treating. Instead now it was time to receive feedback and Alarice had to admit she was dreading it. She hoped he wasn't going to be as harsh as Aizawa could be.

"Young Kirishima, You showed excellent cooperation with another you never worked with before! Good job! Same for you Young Stone, you've never fought with or against any of your new classmates before but I could tell you were trying your hardest!" Toshinori was definitely an easier teacher to hear from than Aizawa.

"Young Stone, You've got a good element of surprise, perhaps do away with the hood rather than using it." Alarice nodded a little, nervous about any looks she could be receiving from her classmates. She pushed it down, it was disappointing not to win but she had to tell herself it was to be expected when her classmates were so significantly more skilled than her at this point. She had a lot of catching up to do, she realized.

As she followed Kirishima over to where the rest of the class was sitting, she realized with a sinking feeling that they all probably saw her form, and knew now what she was. They had watched her fight, as she would now watch theirs. Somehow she'd forgotten about this factor, or intentionally pretended it wouldn't be an issue in order to make it through the situation. She settled into a seat with a sullen silence around her.

"Hey" Alarice looked over in the direction of the voice, Kirishima was talking to her. "Is it bone?"

"What?"

"Your skull face, when you're like a Dog thing, is it Bone or what is it?"

Alarice blinked for a second, before answering with a curious tone to her voice. "It's not.. technically.. its kind of like.. an exoskeleton I think."

"Hey Stone...Where did she go? I thought she was right behind us?" Kirishima asked confused as to where his recent training exercise partner had gotten off too. Sato and Kaminari twisted around as well, she'd been walking out with them... hadn't she? "I was just talking to her..."

The small confusion caught the attention of a few others. Ashido looking around for their classmate too. It wasn't like any of them lived any where else... They were all heading back to the dorms for now.. for the most part any way.

"Maybe she went off to do extra training or something?" Ashido offered, very well puzzled now about their mysterious classmate's sudden disappearance.

"Maybe you said something she didn't like, Kirishima." Kaminari teased the red head, a toothy smile threatening to appear.

"No way, I mean, she seemed a little weird after class, even thought it went pretty well, I thought..." Kirishima added, she'd been some what less talkative after their training directly.. Though it wasn't like they were really supposed do that much 'talking' when you weren't in the exercise directly, you really needed to pay attention to who was actively fighting currently.

The few that bothered to care of the class were now a little curious, and confused as to where their new classmate had gone after the day. Ashido and Kirishima even waited in the common area for her to come back, interested in talking to her at least a little bit. Except bed time rolled on without her ever reappearing at the dorms.

As far as student eyes knew, anyway. Alarice really did have extra training she had to do, to continue to stay in the class, of course. Mandated to make up for the stuff she didn't get to have, joining-in so late.


	4. the Cryptid of 1-A

Chapter 4

"The Cryptid of 1-A"

As far as 1-A could tell at the end of class: Alarice vanished, and yet by the next day, she'd reappear back at class, as if she didn't exist in the same dorm building as they did. She came and went without running into others, even if they had the same business. They might have assumed she lived off campus if they hadn't known for a fact that Alarice Stone had definitely been moved into their Dorms. Though they weren't even sure which room in the building was hers. It was made slightly worse, that after that first training exercise, they hadn't really seen her at lunch either.

"Maybe she thinks Aizawa sensei might still decide to send her away?" Midoriya mumbled out while sitting with Iida andTodoroki, with Uraraka joining them.

"But, she was cleared right? She's in the Class for now at least isn't she?" Uraraka offered, settling down into her seat, and now into the conversation.

"She is... but maybe she feels like she can't relax. Shes only been here for a little while." Midoriya put down the notebook of roughed out notes that looked more like notes on some distant hero than notes for his classmate. "but she's doing well in class.. I think anyway." He started to chew on the end of one of his chopsticks instead of the food itself.

Iida stared into his lunch seriously, he'd done his best as class president to make her feel welcome but it didn't seem to be working. A thought occurred to him. "We could ask Momo, she seems to talk to her frequently, she might know whats up with our newest member... Temporary or not, she is still of Class 1-A! Until the moment that changes, I will make sure she feels welcome!"

Despite Iida's lunchtime declaration, at the end of the day, after exchanging comments and notes about their recent performances in training, once again Alarice had slipped away and vanished from the class's radar. Even with Momo having agreed to try to keep Alarice in one place longer than a few seconds. It was becoming clear to them Alarice came and went when she pleased. A good number of 1-A had decided that, they didn't particularly care what her reasons where, they where hers, and she could do what she wanted since she wasn't in the way.

Even so, life in the 1-A dorm since Alarice's reveal in class, had become a little bit.. odd. It had been odd before of course, since the boxes. There was food that would randomly appear and disappear from the fridges, if some one's food had been eaten the day prior, a new package of it would appear. Yet there was never any dishes that seemed be missing or used from the little kitchenette the students shared in the dorm. Even Sato's cookies had been menaced by their un-seen dorm mate who was giving Hagakure a run for her money.

Then, Sero lost his Phone.

"Keep looking, it's gotta be around here some where!" Sero insisted, despite his usual 'cool dude' demeanor he was quite upset about his phone's sudden disappearance. If he'd lost his charging cable that would have been a minor inconvenience with Kaminari around, but the whole thing: Big problem. Kirishima gave a grunt of his own putting the coffee table down after looking under it. "Sero man, I'm not seeing it."

"It's 2:32 am what are you guys doing up?" Midoriya had been attracted out to the common area now, too. Rubbing at one of his eyes and blinking from the bright lights.

"We didn't wake you up, did we?" Kirishima asked, unable to contain a yawn upon asking that question.

"No, came down for some milk actually," Midoriya gave a tired shrug. "So what are you guys doing?"

"My phone, I lost it." Sero said, unable to keep the sound of defeat out of his voice or his shoulders from slumping. "If its that late then I might as well give it up for now, it might even been in my room still.. even though I searched it thoroughly."

"Oh." the greenish haired boy, looked concerned for his classmate. "That's probably for the best... I bet we'll find it in the morning."

Sero scratched the back of his head, nodding, catching the good night from Kirishima before following the other. Waving back to Midoriya to give him a silent 'night as well. Midoriya nodded to both, and got what he came down for, though he stood for awhile in the kitchen to drink his cup of milk. It was calming. He thought briefly, what if she.. no. She wasn't a thief. Alarice might be weird, but he doubted she'd take Sero's phone. He finished his drink and began to head upstairs, when he heard shifting behind him. It was small, like what he figured it would sound like if there were rats moving. For a moment, he thought, he might see whatever it was Alarice did, but, decided against it. He'd ask her about what she'd been doing that night, in class, rather than at nearly 3 am...as creeped out as it slightly made him.

When Morning rolled around however, he was slightly reassured to hear that Sero had found his phone.

"It was in the center of the table! Kirishima and I checked the common area!" Sero insisted, despite the chuckling of his classmates that he and Kirishima must have been blind to have missed it. Krishima was the only one not laughing with them at Sero's expense. Instead he offered his only answer:

"Stone left it there for him. She must have found it and left it where he'd find it."

"How do you know she didn't steal it in the first place?" Mineta offered from the near ground height he stood at, being so short.

"I don't think she's the type to steal her classmates phone." Kirishima responded, thinking about this for a moment. Midoriya nodding and adding in his thoughts about it. The discussion trailed away from Alarice Stone's return of Sero's phone and possible-but-unlikely-theft of the phone.

The other students found themselves marginally disturbed. She was obviously around them now, but interaction was one-sided. It had been assumed of course, since she moved in, and was 'introduced', but now it was very obviously a fact. It was also a fact that she apparently didn't want to be seen by any one else.

That Friday night, after largely everyone had left the common area, and it was time for bed, Iida had come back to it to straighten up and clean it a little. Everyone had to do their part after all when living communally! Except...

Some one else had already taken care to clean up for him. Everything was neat and exactly where he would have placed it if he had done it. He paused in awkward silence, trying his best to listen for the sound of any one moving around in the area. He got only the sound of the air conditioning unit turning on. He took what he was seeing, and decided he was going to bed, he'd figure it out with his classmates in the morning. After all, it was the weekend, and the majority of them were going to be in the dorms, including her.

In the morning, Iida went to the only other person so far who had become interested in catching her: Kirishima.

"It was exact." Iida insisted, Kirishima nodded to him. Usually he could be found near Bakugou, but the teen had already told Kirishima that he didn't give a fucking damn about Stone's activities. So It was, for now Iida and Kirishima on the case.

"So she's observing us, and knows our routines and even how we leave the common area when we clean it." Kirishima went into thought about it, before his thoughts were rudely interrupted.

"Doesn't she have a sensitive sense of smell? " Mina had gotten involved it seemed, looking at Kirishima with her big eyes. "She sniffs the air a lot even as a person when we're in class. Maybe it's good enough she can tell by smell whose been where."

"I don't think it's that sensitive." Midoriya had decided to join in, now, walking in to the little huddle conversation with Uraraka right behind him. "Really she would just need to know who was in the room last. Uraraka and I have been thinking about this too, we're not sure how she's done it, but she has managed to keep an eye on everyone's schedule some how."

"Well, I guess we could go to her Room and ask her?" Krishima, then realized, he had no idea which room would even be Alarice's. "Do.. any of you know which room is hers?"

"I actually asked Momo about that and..." Mina gave a shrug "None of the girls saw any one getting moved onto our floors."

Uraraka had a sudden idea. "Hang on, There's an entire floor in the girls wing that no one lives on! I bet that's where her room is!"

"Theres a whole floor?" Midoriya said, before the party of five was following Uraraka as she lead them to the stairs up to the second floor. Which was as oddly barren as one would expect. All of the doors in the hall way were barren of any kind of décor. Nothing to identify which room was lived in. There was a collective 'huh' before they group began to check under the doors, only to find that all 4 rooms, from under the door any way, looked equally barren.

They stood in the hall way, thinking. "well.. we may not be able to tell from here..and maybe she is on one of our floors?" Mina asked, with a shrug.

"I bet from outside we could tell which rooms are lived in and which one's aren't!" Kirishima responded, and down in a rush, they all went, excited now with a mystery to solve on their hands to pass the time. Going past Sero as they went out the front door, and their party of five became a Party of Six. Six teenagers standing outside of the dorm looking up at the sliding glass doors of the dormitory rooms of the girl's wing of the building. Well, for a moment all five of them were, Iida had started to look else where.

"Hey, Midoriya come here" Iida waved his hand to his classmate to come over, the others weren't sure and most where still looking at the windows. Their number quietly grew as Todoroki came over to see what was going on, and silently joined in. Mostly just to see how his classmates were going to 'catch' their transfer.

"Ah Ha! With Midoriya's help I have identified a clue!" Iida announced to the group who came over to see what it was he had found. Midoriya helped him part the bush a bit to show that it had been stepped on enough that there was almost a path through it. He then gestured emphatically to the wall. There on the wall where his fingertips nearly touched was a smudge of dirt that looked vaguely like that of a shoe sole.

"Her foot prints! This is how she's been moving around, from outside the building!" Iida and Midoriya seemed to smile with some kind of pride, Iida continued; "unfortunately this doesn't tell us a when, but it tells us a How! Now we need only to figure out a plan of attack! Er, Welcome!"

"It's like a Cryptid hunt!" Mina uttered with an excited gasp.

"a.. Cryptid hunt?" Kirishima uttered back to her, confused having never really heard the word before. Uraraka and Midoriya quietly seemed to mumble something to each other about how 'we can't really let this become a hunt'

"Yeah! A cryptid is like a creature that you only get blurry photos of, so no one knows it exists!" Ashido said excitably only to be countered by Todoroki of all people

"But Stone does exist, she's in our class." Todoroki stated, as stiff faced as he could be.

"Mina means in regards to our dorm, I think. When we aren't in class, there's basically no real proof for us that she lives here with us! She's 1-A's _Dorm specific _Cryptid!" Kirishima announced putting way more energy into this 'discovery' than his classmates thought he would. Todoroki looking confused, then nodding as if he'd just accepted what was being said.

The discussion carried on as the group did a circle around their dorm, looking for more clues, before taking the clues they had, and heading up to Iida's room to lay out a plan and map her movements. As they all sat around on the floor somehow Iida had produced a white board to help them out. Between circle drawing, lines, and discussions, Uraraka cut in.

"She's been some what helpful though, doesn't that make her a beneficial uh, dorm cryptid?" Uraraka suggested. Kirishima was quiet and Iida tapped the marker against his lip for a moment. They'd just written down 'big net' on their board for items to catch their Cryptid.

"Yeah... but she wont let any of us see her outside of class, she's going to make this really hard. WE can't afford to go into this hunt un-prepared and half-hearted!" Kirishima's resolve to catching Alarice had gotten stronger during the course of the day and the discussion. "We need more of the class to be willing to help keep an eye out for her."

Iida nodded: "then that's the first step, lets go see who all is in the dorms this weekend and ask them to keep an eye and ear out for her! That'll help us pin down her movements."

The 'hunting party' dispersed just like that, off in search of their other classmates, and to collect data. Oddly Uraraka, Midoriya and Todoroki found themselves the only ones not going around the dorms asking who would be willing to help hunt down their "dorm cryptid"

"They're... kinda getting really into this aren't they." Uraraka asked out loud.

"Mhmm.. this not the way I thought this was going to go." Midoriya responded, going quiet with her as they nodded their heads.

"We should stick with it anyway." Todoroki offered, his voice a bit subdued in the hallway. "to keep it from getting to out of hand."

The trio agreed easily on that note, and with that, went on to see who all had been 'recruited to help. If they were lucky they might be able to catch Stone first and warn her.

Hagakure was away from the dorms for the weekend, as were Shoji, Ojiro and Koda. Hagakure not being there was a serious disappointment, she would have been very useful in catching Stone. Momo choose not to participate feeling that what they were doing might be a mistake, and she didn't want to threaten the relationship she did sort of have with Stone. Tsuyu also decided against helping the group, having quietly already sided with Midoriya's group. Mineta, to much surprise, also turned down the idea, deciding instead to... spend some alone time in his room.

By the end of it, with Kaminari's added 'help' and Jiro's information on what she'd heard, the group had a better lead, and roughed out plan of 'attack'. It primarily involved using Sero's tape as a safe non-destructive method of capturing her. They knew their time.. and sort of their mark. Though some of the group had voiced that trying to capture her at all was not a 'fair thing' to do her. After all: she must have her reasons for being so evasive.

Alarice's Saturday was less socially intensive than her classmates. She was still doing extra classes outside of class, with Aizawa, and he said, she'd be doing these extra classes with another student starting soon. No particulars of course. She wasn't thrilled, but she wasn't not excited about it. In the states, the few times she'd helped others out she knew it had helped her improve too, but it was difficult to keep trying that when people ran away from you.

Either way she'd wrapped up her extra class, filthy with sweat and exhausted, and yet still finding the energy to hop up and climb up onto her balcony ledge and in through the sliding glass door. Despite her aches and pains from constant work and the promise of relaxation now, she only wanted to do more. Instead she took a shower.

"No no, Alarice its time for some... you time." She told her reflection as she toweled off her hair, before climbing onto her bed to lay down and chill. Putting her earbuds on and turning on one of her recordings of her favorite radio show. Relaxing and then drifting to sleep to the sounds of their voice, reminding herself she did have to eat tonight... but if her memory of everyone's schedule served, then it was likely she'd have a chance later.

"ah okay. Shut up." She groaned, waking up from her longer than intended nap, to hit the alarm on her phone, which thankfully was only blaring into one ear and not both. "Oh god, its later than I thought.. eh well I can at least go grab a snack, I got food up here too."

Food being Protein bars, varieties of jerky, cup ramens, and other 'just add hot water' or 'just add water' products.

Groaning she got herself to her feet, and set to getting herself downstairs, unnoticed, which only involved some outdoorsing. Some. Out her balcony, down to the windows, and in through one of the back windows where few people went.

Once that was accomplished, seeing that the coast was clear any way, like a cat she made her way to the kitchenette. It was tempting to lounge on the couch and make herself comfortable... except... some one would talk to her. It wouldn't do to make friends when it didn't even feel like her dorm-building still.

Her stomach growled, noisier than usual, which made her remember the task at hand: Food, then back to her room pronto. She got to the fridge, and the exercise, hard work, and lack of food was coming back to bite her. Everything looked good, except everything wasn't hers to eat, but surely no one would notice a few bites? She stole a few bites of rolled up ham, and maybe five slices of cheese. The Milk though, was definitely hers. Pulling out the half carton, putting the opening to her lips and taking a big swig.

Stopping only at the realization that her classmate Bakugo, was looking at her like Alarice was a rat in the kitchen. Not another 15-16 year old drinking the milk right out of the container like an uneducated animal. The pair just stared very briefly at each other in the surprise of running into each other.

Which was when the sudden shouting and screaming of the Cryptid Hunting Party, (headed by Kirishima, Iida and Mina ) happend. Followed by Alarice jumping out of sheer alarm at all the noise, and spitting her milk out on the nearest target. Sadly that was Bakugo, who didn't take it very well.

Which was why, on a late Saturday night, Bakugou ( after considerable joint efforts ) and Alarice found themselves taped to floor. The former was coming up with new kinds of insults, while robots were putting out the flames of what was their refrigerator. Aided in part by Shoto's efforts with his Ice.

"Guys, I think we should probably un-tape them!" Uraraka insisted, Sero shook his head.

"Bakugo's staying where he is, he destroyed the fridge!"

"Whatever! You stupid fucks are the fucking reason! Besides I'll just free myself!" Bakugo snarled from the ground, which he was making good progress on doing. While Alarice laid on the floor in what looked like shellshock. "Then we're really going to have a fight, Soy Sauce!"

"Holy shit you guys destroyed your fridge?!" Kendo of 1-B and a few others had come to see what the explosion had been about, despite, kind of knowing where it came from. Monoma didn't miss a heartbeat at a chance to mock 1-A

"My oh my, Mighty 1-A had descended into petty vandalism of their own property and in-fighting! Again! I'd say this is news but really, it's not. I guess that's just the cost of being so good." Kendo rolled her eyes, but didn't really have the heart to pull him down from his high horse. Not when half of 1-A was standing there in their common room, some looking genuinely like they hadn't meant for this to happen, some too, looked confused now as to what do with themselves, and a few sympathetic to the quiet one taped to the ground. There was chatter here and there around the expletives erupting out of Bakugo's mouth as he was wriggling free of his bindings.

"What is going on here?" The tired male voice had just a hint of anger in it. The students looked to the hall way to see 1-A's homeroom teacher walking in, looking like he was seconds away from kicking some one's ass. Alarice still as stiff as a board on the floor really hoped it wasn't her ass. "Start explaining. Now." Many voices struggled to answer him "One of you explain it... Iida, explain this to me. Sero, untie her."

He pointed aggressively at Iida, who was now taking a page from Alarice's book, and doing an _upright_ impression of a wooden board. "We were attempting to catch Alarice since we still haven't seen her outside of class, It got out of hand. It was Kirishima and I's idea sir."

"_Your refrigerator is on fire._"

"Sir, since she was so evasive in our attempts to see her outside of class, we were worried that she wouldn't..." "Stop." Aizawa's hand was on his face rubbing the bridge of his nose, hand on his hip and trying to comprehend how this had happened. Also knowing that it was going to be subject of multiple jokes at his and 1-A's expense in the teachers lounge. "Bakugo why is the fridge on fire?"

"I GOT FUCKING MILK SPIT ON ME By THAT SKELETON-WEREWOLF AND TACKLED TO THE GROUND BY THESE FUCKING ASSHOLES AND YOU'RE ASKING ME THIS!?" He stopped for a second. "I blew it up by fucking accident."

Alarice was next to explain herself, untied now; "I came down for milk and was surprised so I.. mmm spit it out. Msorrybakugo."

Aizawa cut off Bakugo's irritated response at being apologized to of all things, with a sharp glare. Sero figuring now was a good time to untie the other teen, with a mumbled apology that was met with a glare and a snarl.

"Iida, Kirishima, Sero, Ashido, You four will be doing extra chores in this dorm, AND chores in 1-B's, you'll be meeting with Vlad to find out what that will be in the morning. You'll be doing that for the next week. Midoriya, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Bakugo, you will be cleaning your whole dormitory building all week." He turned to Alarice who froze like a terrified rabbit under his gaze. Unsure of what she could possibly be guilty of. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Stone, But if you ever attempt to use anything but a doorway to get around on UA grounds and outside of an exercise, _I'll expel you_. There are cameras, you will be caught. Is that clear?"

The punished students nodded, Alarice containing the anxiety as best as she could, letting out a breath of relief when Aizawa left, even though a group of robots had come in to remove remains of the Fridge. The entire class had come down to see the sight and silence settled among the Class of 1-A, as they watched the refrigerator leave, charred black and its contents officially ruined. Kendo dragged Monoma out before he could say anything else to the class.

Sato stood among his classmates, scratching the back of his head, genuinely surprised it had gotten to this point. "I had Jello setting in there."


	5. The More You Know

Chapter 5

"The More you know ~*"

Alarice settled into using a door like a normal student and was forcing herself to be around her classmates in a social capacity, despite how awkward it was. Kirishima had made an attempt to apologize to her in private, and Alarice had appreciated his descretion. Not that it made it easier for her to be around them in a group sometimes. She thought about attempting a second apology to Bakugou, but upon reflection decided it wasn't necessary. They'd already explained themselves when Aizawa was there.

A new fridge had arrived after only a day or two of not having one. There was a relative norm returned to the Dorms of 1-A, exemplified now by the sort of communal watching of some show after a particularly rough exercise. Some still had a few bruises from it, minor ones any way. Alarice was even watching, sipping on a canned tea and staring almost dead-eyed into the screen.

"Stone." Iida's voice was different than his usual calm but firm like tone. He actually sounded like a teenager now. Ashido was with him, and she noted Sero too when she turned to look. "We're very sorry for the way we treated you last Saturday night." Iida even bowed, Ashido copying him a bit, though her pink cheeks looked redder.

"Thank you... It's okay, I mean it's okay now that I know why you did it. I guess." Alarice offered with a shrug, a bunch of thoughts running through her head all at once, noticing the attention was shifting from the Tv to her. She didn't like it when people tended to stare at her when she was doing nothing. Hero stuff was different, she was Arariel then. Then it happened, and more words tumbled out as her cheeks increasingly tried to imitate Ashido's "I mean it.. it was kind of my fault wasn't it? I'm sorry too, for not being more willing to trust you guys. I'm honestly kinda just glad it wasn't a terrifying initiation hazing like my last boarding school I was in. At least now I guess we have a kind of funny story that's just ours right?"

A little voice said 'don't say any more whatever you do!' but it was promptly ignored as Ashido asked Alarice; "You went to another Hero school and they had an initiation

'hazing'?"

Alarice decided then and there that she really liked Ashido's voice, it was sweet and had a natural, kitten-like feel to it. Obviously she'd heard it before, but the realization had finally dawned on her completely in that moment. Despite the little voice, She couldn't stop herself from continuing to speak. "Yeah, It was the one before this one. It was something they do to the Freshman there, mine was kind of rough. Usually what they'd just, lightly drug your drink or whatever, Tie you up and leave you at the old abandoned building at the edge of the grounds, then you had to get back before you were caught off the grounds past Curfew. They left me in this cave off the grounds." Alarice gave a shrug, it had hurt a lot, emotionally at the time, but it had made her all the tougher. Alarice noted Ashido's look however, and Iida's, and knew instantly that they were definitely hero material.

"They did that to a girl!?" Ashido asked, her voice taking an accusatory tone towards people not even in that country. Alarice hadn't considered her gender at the time, but turned just a bit more red in the face upon realization that she'd been put in a seriously compromising position.

"Well... yeah, I assume they did it to everyone..." Though that assumption was falling apart right now. She gave a half-hearted shrug.

"Didn't you report it?" Sero was apparently invested enough into to the story to suggest actions, Ashido nodding firmly.

"well.. I mean,..." Alarice gave up with a little sigh, "No, I didn't. I told Sunshine but nothing really seemed to come of it.. and I was .. kind of in a situation.. so it wasn't like it mattered to much in the long run... It's really not that big a deal to me any more."

Alarice attempted to brush her embarrassing story under the rug but she could tell they weren't going to be having any of that. Bullying was just part of growing up as she'd been told, multiple times. Impossible to avoid when you parents where as notable as her own with the kind of history they had. Iida's warm hands touching her shoulders popped her out of those thoughts and put her attention right on to him. He was some what taller than her, she realized.

"Students who act like that aren't going to be pros," He stated, very firmly, with so much confidence she almost believed it. "Stone, you haven't said yet, but, why do you want to be a Hero?"

"For.. For my Dad." '_and to prove I can be one.' _She thought, but did not add on. They did not need to know how much spite might be behind her drive to be a professional hero.

"Such a noble reason." Iida uttered, still holding her shoulders but looking away from her face directly. He let go and gestured very energetically, yet some how still stiffly at her. "You've found yourself in the right place!"

The conversation seemed to end there, a confident smile and nod from Iida, before he left her to her business. Though she soon found herself being pulled, by Ashido, into more interaction, not just hanging out against the wall watching TV from as far back as possible. She suspected she wasn't going to be allowed to wall-flower socially any more if it could be helped. Annoying as it sort of was, a bead of warmth formed in her heart for the dedication the pink girl had.

Sunshine's role in UA was a temporary teaching position, officially. She found herself primarily assisting the students in the upper years. Which was fine, it avoided any accusations of bias from those who knew she was the 'guardian' who brought Alarice over. Thankfully it was really only the Staff at UA who knew this. She typed away at the little desk she sat at, looking drastically out of place. She would have looked better out on the street stopping crime and helping people. Sunshine was just one of those Heros with that natural born allure and beauty that people thought of when they thought; 'Hey that person is a hero!'

Maybe it was the gold skin ?

Either way, She was 'heroically' typing away into a computer, the room around them desperately quiet as the few teachers in the office-like area worked around her. A smile pulled at her face while she worked, finding herself right at home with this kind of thing. It'd be nice to retire enough to be able to work with kids or something... help the future...

The door slid open to Mic and Snipe coming in with their own work to do, Cementoss leaving to attend to his own students. Leaving the room with just Midnight, Sunshine and the new additions. Contrary to the expectations Mic was surprisingly quiet ssas he brought his work in and clearly began attempting to grade said English work. Snipe was surprisingly the one to break the dead silence in the room. "Havin' a lovely day aren't we, Sunshine?"

Sunshine looked up at him, smiling an easy smile, and nodding pleasantly in his direction. "It is isn't it? On days like this sun is the true star isn't it?"

"Hah! Yes, she is." Snipe said, his body shifting as he was clearly fiddling with something on the desk that she couldn't see. Sunshine could almost hear the held-back pick up line he was threatening to use. Instead he asked; "Miss Sunshine, if I may be so bold, would you mind.. going for dinner at the end of this day?"

Sunshine looked up at him, trying to hold that smile on her face. No time for dates with this golden goddess. "I'm sorry Snipe, I'm very busy, I've got a lot of work to do."

"Ah, is UA workin' you that hard?" He offered trying to be humorous about it.

"Oh absolutely." She responded, her eyes and attention going back to her screen while she completed whatever work a temporary teacher had to do. "You have some very interesting students at this school."

There was a soft chuckle from behind that gas mask. "I suppose we do ma'am but I'm 'fraid it'd be braggin' if I said more than that. Speakin' of students, that littl'n you brought with you has got a smart little head her shoulders."

"Oh, Stone?" Sunshine responded after a quiet moment, "I suppose she does, yes."

Snipe was willing to let the subject drop but his enthusiastic coworker with the stupid hair-cut decided to jump in to try to lighten up the mood. "If Stone's a kid, and she's a Hellhound, wouldn't that make her more of a … Hell-puppy?"

Snipe wanted to to hit Mic for jumping into the conversation but he knew it was going to happen regardless if the Hero was in the room. The voice hero just couldn't ever seem to help himself. Sunshine barely reacted to the joke-esque comment. "Sure. A Hell-puppy."

"Heh, Well, How's Stone taking it after the incident in the dorms?" "_There was an incident already_?!"

Mic regretted saying anything and he was suddenly not so surprised as to why Aizawa might not have told her immediately about it. The look on her face was one of immediate concerned irritation.

"Stone didn't do anything! I mean, that's kind of what caused it, -"

"Did Alarice get hurt? Who did it?"

"No! No, none of them got hurt, just apparently Stone was too 'good' at avoiding everyone else, so a bunch of other students tried to catch her, that's all, got a little out of hand, she's not in any direct trouble." He would have said 'no trouble' but that would have been just a tiny bit of a lie. Stone was dedicated to making sure that he ( and any teacher really ) knew she used a door. Something he had tried not to giggle at her for, she was clearly feeling a little self-conscious about it. That desire shrank out of him seeing those bright-violet-red eyes look into his own. "Stone's fine, her pride's a little hurt maybe but she's taking it better than the kids who got real punishments."

There was some relief in Sunshine's eyes, though she let out a breath. "Just student nonsense again I suppose." She let out a little laugh following that statement.

"Hey I'm Sorr-" Mic was cut off quickly by the ringing of Sunshine's phone. Some standard but blaring noise that clawed at the ears annoyingly till it ceased. He didn't like it. Sunshine gave the screen a look before smiling in Mic's direction. "I really have to take this call, alright?" Though she didn't wait for a response before answering said phone. Mic being forced by the social laws that bind to sit his ass back down and be quiet. He still couldn't help but overhear the few short words.

"Hang on I'm going to head some where more private, give me a second." Sunshine stated, before standing up, gathering her things, and with a nod to her coworkers as she walked out. Aizawa walked right in as she left, sliding around her like a cat sliding along the door frame. Papers in one arm, sleeping bag in the other. "hey is the lounge empty?"

"Should be? Sunshine left in the wrong direction." Midnight offered, Aizawa nodding before he saw Mic point at him dramatically.

"Errrraser why didn't you tell Stone's Godmother about the Cryptid hunt in the 1-A Dorms!" Mic accused, though his tone was far from any thing close to accusatory or even annoyed. Minor frustration at best. Hell he was almost teasing the man. Aizawa gave him a dead eyed stare back before dropping his papers in the appropriate space for them to sit for the next few hours before he felt like dealing with them again. "It wasn't significant enough to tell her."

"She completely freaked out when I told her !" The other insisted, Snipe mumbling that it was far from a freak out.

"She was probably just worried, Stone's had a history of issues with other students, but it wasn't anything like that. So I didn't tell her about it." Aizawa stated, before yawning more audibly than necessary, and shuffling away to take a nap till he was needed again. He paused before he fully engaged in nap-time. "Also, don't call it a cryptid hunt, Mic."


	6. A Phone is involved but it sucks

Chapter 6

"A Phone is involved but it sucks"

Sato finally met who had been stealing his cookies, as result of the incident, though it had taken awhile before she finally said anything, apologizing for the minor theft.

"Hey, now that I know you like them, I'll just make a little more." Sato said, his voice was deep and had a natural sort of 'bear' like sound to it. If people could sound like a bear that is.

"You don't... you don't have to do that, I mean.. " Alarice pulled back not sure how to respond to the offer. The polite thing to do would be to just accept it and let it go, but before she could, Jiro cut in leaning on the counter. "You'd miss the thrill of hunting helpless cookies huh?"

Alarice flushed across the face at the minor teasing, it had been some what prevalent since the incident but it didn't feel like bad teasing. She rubbed at her arm, trying to go with the joke. "Yup totally, I'm like a dog and a cat, I even need them hid around the place so its more work for me and fun, hah."

Jiro snorted, in response to Alarice's attempt.

"Thank you, Sato, for offering, it's very sweet." Alarice said with dusting of pink still on her cheeks. He smiled back warm and inviting again. "Just let me know when you want some of the treats I make. It's fine really, everyone usually ends up having some."

"It's true." Jiro added, totally not thinking about the delicious Angel cake that Sato could make, among other delicious things. Sato smiled broadly at Jiro's admittance. Jiro paid it no mind, or seemed to any way, looking to Alarice, as she got up, gesturing for her to follow. "Any way, Stone I wanted to ask you about something."

"Ah.. Sure what is it?" Alarice followed Jiro, and the two girls walked away, letting him get back to his hobby.

"You were humming this tune the other day and I wanted to know what it was from." Jiro asked, fiddling with one of her ear-jacks. Side by side the two girls looked very different, Alarice's musculature was noticeably thicker than Jiro sleeker frame. She was also only a little taller than the other.

"Oh, Its uh," Alarice paused awkwardly for a second, looking at the floor, "It's from an old album I have. I can loan it to you if you want. I guess."

Alarice tried to be casual about it but the awkward silence that settled made it blatantly obvious to both that they were equally unsure of expressing their interests. Jiro broke it first to make up for 'asking'; "Only if you're comfortable with that. I wouldn't mind, It never hurts to have a bank of music to draw from for... reasons."

The other couldn't help but screw up her face at the response. "Musical reasons usually." Alarice let out a breath of air, and just; "Or learning how dj and practicing remixing things, which... Okay I totally do that.. occasionally. I mean not for an audience for anything just kinda, for myself. I don't really have instruments so I do a lot of sampling, I guess. That's not weird to you is it?"

"No, actually," Jiro stated, a little relieved, and unable to stop a smirk from appearing on her face as she continued. "I actually have some 'musical inclinations' myself."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, Do you wanna come up to my room and see? " Jiro offered, she couldn't help it; Alarice looked so much like a puppy at the mere mention. It made it easier that they were pretty much one flight away from her room.

Smiles adorned, the pair headed up to Jiros room. Where the hellhound girl couldn't help but fawn a little over the instruments and gear Jiro had. Discussion of music making and what kind of music they both did quickly dominated the conversation between the two girls. One self taught and forced to use what was handy, and the other reaping the benefits of a family steeped in music.

"I'm really glad I'm not the only one here interested in music, especially remixing! But I guess, it makes sense huh?" Alarice offered with a shrug, Jiro giving her a near smirk on her face.

"What got you into it? Remixing and stuff? " Jiro inquired, having already in the conversation revealed her ties to the music industry through her parents. Alarice answered easily, she really felt like she was making friends.

"Back home I got to go to a lot of Dances.. or Raves I guess, but I go to them when I can. I just kind of started wanting to make my mixes for that... and that's kind of just where it went. " Alarice fiddled with her hair absently, while Jiro thought she and Mina would definitely become friends if she learned this. She let out a nervous cough before she could be asked what her favorite Djs were. "any way, I can go grab you the CDs from my Room if you want them."

"Sure, I'll copy over some music to a thumbdrive for you while you do that."

Alarice nodded, and darted out the door, notably the door, to get her archaic CDs to share with the Jiro. The anxieties of interacting were barely noticeable anymore.

The sun had set for that warm Friday evening, some students were enjoying the benefit of the dorms and some minor independence from their families, and others were with theirs. Alarice, unable to go home to her dad in the states just stayed. She felt more welcome now in the class and in the dorms even if she was working double time all the time for it. Today though was a day she could relax on.

Her headphones were buried in her ears as she made her way down to the pleasant little kitchenette on the first floor. Lured down by the sweet smells of Sato using the more expanded kitchenette to cook something more complicated or numerous. She wasn't sure yet but it had called her down from the second floor wordlessly. So there she was, surprisingly casual, walking in her lazy pajama outfit and all. A new sight to a few of her classmates, but they were well use to seeing her at this point.

The sound of the radio show, recorded from its original air time, playing on her phone, drowned out the sound around her. Her attention elsewhere, as she let the sound just carry her mind away. Which was how Kaminari, in a some what curiously-teasing mood was able to pull one ear bud out.

Which caused Alarice to jerk in surprise.

Which in turn, caused the headphone-jack to pop out of the socket on the phone. Instead of pausing the player like it should have, proceeded to blast the auditory contents into the room.

It was made all the more embarrassing as the loud male voice playing on her phone was that of their English teacher, Present Mic.

Alarice's entire face turned red and her eyes became artistic dinner plates, as Kaminari stood there, headphone still in his hand, almost dumbfounded. Sero was looking up from his own phone now, Jiro who had been lounging near by was also startled by the sudden blasting of sound. Bakugou, who had just entered the room, stood there with a with an expression on his face as if he'd just smelled the worlds rankest fart. Someone out of sight gave a surprised squeak.

"Wow.. you like Mic's Radio show?" Kaminari started to ask, as Alarice scrambled to make it stop playing any noise. She finally got it to shut up, but her face was still burning red, spreading to ears. She didn't answer him, giving him a look like he'd personally injured her, before she snatched her headphones back from his hand, and ran full pelt, back to her room.

A silence sort of settled among the witnesses in the room.

"I never would have thought she liked his radio show, she never says a peep about knowing anything about any our teachers before coming here, never-mind their side jobs." Sero stated, wondering about how long she'd been listening to said Radio show.

Jiro was busy trying not to laugh or smile at how Alarice had reacted to Kaminari's action, or at what had been on the said phone. Kaminari was clearly distressed at the situation he had caused. He hadn't meant to do that at all, and it was all over his face.

"I think you ruined any chance you had there, Pikachu." she teased from her spot on the couch.

"I thought she heard me!" He protested. "those are some good headphones though, I might have to ask her about them, I can't believe we didn't hear any of that."

With it out in the open, Alarice didn't know what to do with herself. She was mortified that the cat was out of the bag, that she liked Hands Up Radio. She didn't think she could take it if they found out any more. Mostly she didn't want to be mercilessly made fun of for liking the Voice Hero. It was easier in the states, to some degree, to be a big fan of him, because he was largely unknown. She could just say 'oh I listen to these podcasts' and people just nodded. Even if they were actually illegally downloaded and recorded episodes from his far earlier broadcasts. Now it was more available online as technically, actual trimmed down 'podcasts' but you could get the whole shows. Sort of. Not to mention she could actually catch a show live which was great... But here, especially, he was known.

As the obnoxious announcer for UA and English teacher. _You can't be a fan of your __**ENGLISH TEACHER!**_

She groaned audibly, flopping onto her bed. She'd dodged answering truthfully about who her favorite dj's were or where she'd found certain songs that she'd totally picked up off his show... She even had a song made for herself that maybe sampled some of his quotes... It had been something for practice, never really to share but she had done it all the same. Maybe she could still just chill for awhile with the rest of the show. She picked up her earbuds, only to realize that they'd been broken, probably by her, by accident. She let out an audible groan at her own bad luck.

The next day in english, her arguably easiest class, given that it was her native tongue, Alarice had to dodge the few teasing looks. Though she kept her respectful behavior towards her teacher of course.

It was awesome enough to get to just be around him, for her. She didn't need more than this.

Today it was likely to attract more attention, her only headphones to use for the on-computer assignments was a very special pair of over-ear headphones, she gotten specially ordered back when she lived in the US. They weren't signed, or wildly unique, but they were some one's merch, specifically, Present Mic 'branded' headphones. No one seemed to call her out on it luckily though she attributed that to probably being the only Fan in his class. 'please don't let him notice... I should have just asked for a school pair rather than do this to myself...'

It passed without incident, and she was able to stash them back safely into her bag, and then her room before heading back out to do her extra-class with her homeroom teacher. A little surprised to see someone she vaguely recognized from being from general studies, but she didn't know the purple haired kid's name.

"You two are going sparring with each other today. Stone, this is Shinsou." Aizawa stated plainly, giving his attempt at an introduction between the two students. The two youths nodded each other, clearly unsure of what to do or think of each other just yet. Alarice taking into account, some where in her mind, how similar the two looked. Though she did not understand yet how similar She and Shinsou where. "Your first fight will have no Quirk usage."

Alarice nodded knowing that he had zero issue in insuring that was going to be the case. The two students heading into the external gym, to do some warming up and to fight each other. Alarice quickly found that Shinsou, like her, wasn't up for doing much talking, and so they were rather quiet without prompting. She also found that this was to strengthen their hand to hand skills, perhaps even just build his.

Shinsou wasn't bad, but he wasn't great either, yet, but he proved to be a fast learner with good observational and analysis skills. Easily she was better, being a hero student but also being some one who had refused to use her quirk for such a long time as a beginner. The pair was, one way or another, through punches and kicks, helping each other get better.

Aizawa was quiet to the side, while he oversaw the two students, focusing on their fighting. Shinsou showed promise and the fights were bringing out that Hero mentality he knew Alarice had buried in her some where. Even if they weren't doing much talking, she was still, trying to help him,too. He in turn was taking advantage of the situation to learn as well, and giving it his all.

After a few matches, with both of them being thrown by the other at least once onto the mat, Aizawa clapped twice to end it. Both of teens looking at him blankily for a second.

"That's it for today."

"Really?" Alarice tried to cover her mouth from saying anything else. Somehow, the fact that Shinsou was like a purple haired, small Aizawa in expression didn't help.

"Thats it," He tiredly confirmed. "for today."

Alarice was surprised and decided not to question it too hard, walking to go get changed back to her regular uniform again, and deciding she should probably say something to Shinsou. "uh.. hey that was fun, right? Guess next time we'll get to use our quirks huh."

He gave her an odd stare back but didn't break his pace. "Sure."

Thoroughly confused she took that for what it was. "Okay, well, see you next time, Shinsou!" Speeding up her pace a little to get cleaned up she barely heard his response of just; "Sure, Stone."

He wasn't sure what to think of her, and she likewise, didn't know what to think of him.

Aizawa walked into the teacher's dorm building, and up to his apartment, only to be some what confronted by the sight of Nemuri, out of her hero outfit, smiling as Mic was telling her a plethora of new stories. Appropriate or not, Aizawa decided he didn't care what the new silly 'engrish' thing his or 1-B or any other class had done. Simply grunting a greeting to them as he walked in.

"Sho! Sho please let me tell you this!" Mic pleaded, while Aizawa simply looked tired as usual, wondered if he should give him permission, dragging it out and making the blonde squirm for it. Before answering; "Fine Hizashi, what is it."

Nemuri had relaxed back into her phone, now done with indulging Mic's energy, and it was now Aizawa's job as 'loving partner' to do the job. Mic, rather, Hizashi as he had let his hair down and dressed to relax for the night rather than do any patrolling, was bouncy with excitement. "OKAY! So! 1-A's got their dorm cryptid Stone, right?!"

"Don't call her a Cryptid, Hizashi." Aizawa said his gaze looking a little harsh for a second while Hizashi laughed. Aizawa suspected he did this just to get reprimanded, even gently, by him. Even now, Hizashi Yamada, boyfriend, childhood friend, was still a strange person to Shouta Aizawa. "But yes?"

"Did you hear about her phone?" Hizashi waggled his eyebrows, to try to pull knowledge from Aizawa who just stared blankly at him. "okay so, the students have mentioned that she has some Radio shows on it."

"Oh."

"Uh huh." Hizashi smiled seemed to broaden. "I thought: that's not unusual, and it might just be gossip any way, wouldn't know till I saw it, right? Also, there's loads of radio shows out there... and she's always well-behaved for me any way. No reason to assume its mine." He paused for a breath clearly interested in making a big show of this, per usual. "You remember when I had those briefly-run High-quality headphones?"

"Yes. So what, she has your Merchandise? Many hundreds, of people, have your Merchandise Hizashi."

"She has my second edition headphones! She was wearing them in class today! ahh What a blast from the past!" Hizashi was practically giddy, making a squeaking noise of joy that made Aizawa want to remind him that was full grown adult man with a full hero license, and who participated in the marketing side of Heroism too. Still Hizashi wasn't making fun of Stone, He seemed genuinely excited and pleased that one of his students was fan enough that she'd obtained a pair ( more exclusive than she probably knew) of his headphones.

"She was so cute in them Sho'!"

"Please tell me you didn't say anything to her about that." Aizawa droned out, Nemuri smiled at him from the couch, enjoying that he was now subjected to Hizashi's amazing ability to be thrilled even this far into being a Pro, about people wearing or enjoying what he made.

"Of course not! I am a professional!"

"With that squealing noise you just made I'm starting to doubt that." Hizashi let out a dramatic gasp at Aizawa's accusation. Making another as the accusations continued; "You do know that, since she is from the states, and you only recently started to make them 'podcasts ' too, there's a good chance, she obtained your radio show through illegal means."

There was a silence for a moment as some how both Nemuri and Hizashi were given Aizawa deadpan looks at him before Nemuri had to ask; "Do either of you even care if that's the case?"

Aizawa just shrugged and after discarding what he was carrying onto the table, flopped onto the couch. Only to be 'unwillingly' dragged into a cuddle on the couch, that he immediately went to sleep during, while the other two indulged in a movie.


	7. Everyone is a Fucker

Chapter 7

"Everyone is a Fucker"

Alarice's last exercise of the day ended with her hell-hound ass taking a good fly through air, and landing through a pipe that collapsed from her weight. The pipe loudly clanged as she landed with a thud and a dog-like whine. Recovering in time to move herself out of the locale and try and get a sneak attack on her target. Dropping her Hell-hound form to slip easily away, not sure who was going to be following her with the opponent being downwind of her. Only knowing that she had the space and barely enough time to hide herself and try to take advantage of a smaller size to slip behind them.

Which didn't work out too well, as her opponents had swapped, and Alarice found her ears ringing and yet again, Bakugo had destroyed significant parts of her outfit. She'd never really seen the boy have any color on his face, but both certainly had color and since she was playing the roll of villain, just surrendered to save her dignity. Holding the damaged front close, to cover-up, and extremely grateful that Momo was as understanding as she was, generating her a cloak to throw over herself. She was fast too, probably to keep certain eyes off of her. Bakugo wasn't the worst to have seen her nearly naked any way, he was doing pretty much what Alarice expected. Cursing at her for flashing him, growling about something that sounded like 'suit maintenance' while he kept himself turned around to spare his eyes any more viewing.

So Alarice found herself heading to the support side of the school as soon as a chance was given, her burned, shredded, and damaged suit in her hands. She had only been there a small time before. All she really had to do was hand it off to the support department's head, and it would get sent to get repaired by UA's own Support Company. This time the room smelled a little special , she hesitated before knocking on the door.

"Ohhhh! You're that Hound girl aren't you!?" The pink haired girl's face was partially covered with some sort of headgear. She grabbed Alarice's arm and dragged her inside before she could answer. "Damaged your suit huh~!"

"y-yes- Hey!" She'd grabbed it from her hands, and tossed it off to some one else in the room whose face Alarice still couldn't see. But from the noise coming from them they were male and incredibly exasperated by this girl."It'll be repaired don't worry! But I've been dying to try out some of my babies on you!"

"Babies?" Alarice was to surprised to resist as Hatsume pushed her again. She relaxed a little seeing it was the door, she was being pushed to.

"Yup! Now as soon as it's repaired you come back and pick it up and try on my babies as repayment!" Hatsume almost pushed her out the door, leaving Alarice standing there in the hall confused, and startled at what had just happened to her. She walked away pondering on that sudden, and intense interaction, realizing that the only reason she wasn't being used a test subject was probably that any transformation would shred her school uniform. How was she going to be doing extra exercises when she couldn't use her quirk at all? The focus has been on that Quirk after all...

She found her teacher faster than she thought she would by the end of the day. Looking tired and ragged per usual, smelling like the bedraggled hero he looked like. There was one time he smelled clean, and even with the faintest nudge of what might have been cologne. She never smelled it again though. Today though: slightly sweaty hero who just wants to go to bed but has a student instead to deal with.

"Suits totaled.." She said quietly, somewhat hoping she wouldn't have much but knowing that was never going to be case. He just nodded, he already knew she'd unintentionally flashed Bakugo for destroying more parts of her suit.

"Good thing you wont need it today for your extra-class." A cat like smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth barely peaking over the capture weapon he kept wrapped around himself.

"Its something you're more comfortable with." Alarice felt her cheeks heat with the embarrassment that she was still banned from ever using a window. She'd only found the will to laugh a bout it with a few of her classmates. Still there was a sort of 'it can't be helped' attitude to this today.

"Uh alright... " she said quietly, accepting her fate. He motioned for her to follow and she did, surprised to find that they were on a portion of the UA test grounds that was the 'forest type'.

"Since you liked to sneak around, and you can't transform right now, lets see if you can get to the exit of this without getting caught." Aizawa paused for a second, Alarice looking at her goal and pondering. "what If I do?"

He just gave her a look and motioned towards the field. "Show me how you managed to get so close to getting that license with such a poor understanding of your own quirk." Alarice carefully avoided looking at him, and just nodded. With her only instruction and the vaguest of warnings, and just a tad nervous, she did as she was essentially told and went in.

Like many of her generation, she had her quirk, and then she had some mutations on top. Her eyes were unrelated to her quirk, and similarly without it activated she still had a very intense sense of smell. No such luck on sight but her hearing was fairly acute, and learning to really listen had been a good skill. So it was to her slight discomfort that the rough direction of the exit was downwind of her, and she was likely not to be able get even the strongest of scents from any one in that direction.

Listening to her basic surroundings of bushes, trees, rocks and a prolific if well cared for amount of extraneous foliage, offered only the sounds of Bugs. The bright blues, reds, and whites of her little UA outfit would do her serious disadvantage. So knowing laundry was going to suck later, she found a good spot and vigorously ruined her exercise uniform as much as possible. Now she blended in just marginally better. At least she was able to keep her shoes, custom made toe shoes. Not very fashionable, but it let her move in ways she felt were more effective.

Something snapped and she pulled herself under the closest bush, instinctively sniffing and getting nothing but dirt, and flora smell. Best to keep moving. So forward Alarice went, primarily with as little noise as could be made, and keeping her main body as obscured as possible.

As she went she couldn't help but feel just a little hunted. Something or someone was definitely going to stop her from reaching her otherwise very simple objective. There was the added difficulty that she was alone. No one to fool or take advantage of around her to get where she needed. No one to trick or force into taking the hits she needed to avoid in order to get to the finale point. Everything had to come from her and her alone. She came to a quiet stop again after making that small distance.

The earth ahead of her had been messed with, she couldn't smell it or see it till now but it has been overturned and dug in. Best to avoid it... the only other option was the tree next to her. Lacking something to pull herself up did make climbing up it a challenge to but she took it and up she went. From the tree's branches she got a better view. Traps all over the place.

Explosive? Pits? Something to throw her out of the ring? It wouldn't be deadly... Alarice climbed a little higher up, there was still that question of who was out there. All she got from her climb was the sight of many tree tops, the dangerous ground, and no one. Well no one at UA, even staff was-

The tree she was in shook rather violently, as if its base was being effected!

She swallowed down a panicked sound, and jumped into the neighboring tree like a monkey, spying a close enough branch that could take her weight, managing to just get her arms on it and hold onto it, as the tree she'd been in collapsed in as if it was being swallowed by the earth around it. Cracking tree limbs and thunderous noise filled the air, and Alarice knew now might be a good time to move very fast.

So she did, tree to tree, till she was forced to the ground by a lack of reliable perches, landing onto a half buried boulder and quietly getting down. Not hearing birds panic about the falling tree did bother her.. but more importantly, the tree she had been in was targeted.

There was a tiny little noise by her head, sounding metallic. Robots. UA uses robots and hidden cameras.

The tiny camera mounted on the robot hadn't seen her yet, but she'd only become aware of it by chance. Messing with it would for sure alert where she was, but messing with it would also mean one less extra eye that could find her. It was because of these that Aizawa knew she'd been climbing around and on the dorm building rather than being a normal student. As she reached for it, she knew she'd already made up her mind.

He hadn't said she she couldn't do this after all, as she wedged it in the crook of two branches, stuck in the tree and unable to track her any more. It beeped wildly that it had been 'attacked' so she quickly left it there. Leaving it behind quickly as she crawled quietly between plants on the ground.

Another cautious sniff to the air offered barely anything and she hated that she couldn't use her quirk, a feeling that almost surprised her. There was something there and she couldn't tell without her sharper sense of smell... Something she realized that she had come to rely on a bit more than she was use too. Which also distracted her from focusing on her current challenge. She snapped back to it, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and moving to the side quickly, sparing a glance up.

"Sensei !?" Alarice blurted, throwing herself to the side to avoid the gray flash of his signature ( almost ) capture weapon. He didn't say anything, and despite not really needing his quirk, still wore his goggles. By the time she got back up to her feet, he had vanished from her sight, a second longer and she was back on her face in the dirt. Then back she went, unable to move her legs, as they'd been tightly wrapped.

Alarice in less than minute hung upside down, hip to ankle wrapped securely in Aizawa's capture weapon. Said man securing the other end to keep his transfer student suspended. "S-so now what?" she asked, knowing she was high enough her hair wasn't even touching the ground, long as it was.

He said nothing, but did have his phone, which he pulled out. "Target Captured."

"Hey!"

He spared her a glance, ( possibly, with the goggles it was hard to tell ) and walked away from her. Leaving Alarice there upside down waiting for who ever was some supposed to come pick her up. "SENSEI!"

Nope.

He had quite literally just left her there upside down, by herself.

"I-I have to get down." She told her self, as she looked at her situation. The ground was far below, and the Capture weapon refused to either loosen, or be picked-at to break. She tried to pull herself up, but the way her legs had been wrapped made that impossible. Blood rushed to her head as she struggled to figure out a way to get down. Preferably before she either passed out or was 'retrieved'. As unease picked-up in her heart she looked at her pants.. if she could get out of her pants maybe.. Then she'd just be in her under shorts.. if it worked, but she would probably get free.

It wasn't really a very pleasant process, she was sure her own fingers would leave bruises on her thighs, and she was concerned about hitting her head, at least for the first few seconds. Then it became rather violent wiggling and some noise making, as it started to work. Rewarded with the short fall that nearly knocked the wind out of her, but she was free. Her pants now with no legs in them fell free along with the loose amounts of gray fabric, landing on top of her, in a pile.

No rest for a hellhound however, as she grabbed her pants, made a run for the nearest tree that wasn't this tree to catch her breath, Pants tossed over her side and shoes lost from her struggle. she climbed the tree barefoot. She could feel her heart in her throat as she balanced herself for putting her pants back on. Then, realized she stank of her own sweat. IF there was anyone else here who could smell her, they would be able to now for sure. She wiggled out of her sweaty under shirt, pulling it off without taking off her top shirt, discarded it on the branches, before getting down and moving on.

Now making sure to check all around her, up, down, smell sniff, listen. Remembering her initial 'testing' to get in, she was pretty sure Aizawa hadn't left at all. He was probably still about, waiting to catch her again if she let him. The dead silence of the forest became suffocating, the lack of scents to help her, aggravating now. Alarice took a deep breath, getting frustrated would only make this challenge all the worse.

She remembered again her smell, and realized with a sinking feeling that while she may have reduced her stink on her person by taking the shirt off, she still smelled.

Another roll in the dirt was required, and luckily did find a little pond, Mud worked even better. God she was going to need such a bath after this. Now smeared heavily in mud, with leaves sticking to her by accident but helping, she continued her painfully slow progress. Occasionally sticking the camera-robots she did find into the trees. She realized she was more than half way, when she could smell others.

She had no way to be exact, and had no proof there was really more than Aizawa out here, so smelling the bitter smell of someone else's sweat, she could only guess it was probably him. Alarice redoubled her efforts to keep herself hidden and importantly, try to keep an idea of where her teacher was. Freezing and making herself blend in as best she could every tiny glance of black she saw. Dammit she was going to get to the end of this!

She avoided a few more traps she found that Aizawa had laid for her. Moved quickly when she could, moved in the trees when she could, came to the stark realization that there were at least two people besides herself here. She could almost see the exit when the ground gave way beneath her feet. Crumbling downwards, despite being untouched. Some one dug a pit without disturbing the ground itself!?

Alarice let out a choking noise as she barely caught herself on the crumbling edge of the pit, Grunting as she grabbed for more grip. For a good moment as she dug her bare toes into the sides of the earth, and dug her fingers into the surface, all she could hear or focus-on was the sound of her own heart, the grass ripping as she pulled herself forward. As she was able to lift one leg, and get herself over the lip completely, she was hoisted into the air yet again.

This time though the face looking at her was furry and muzzled. "To bad, you were almost there."

And then he threw her, back towards the start. She came to a rough stop more towards the middle of the Start Area. Amazed that she had failed to break any bones, and that she'd basically just been yeeted roughly by Hounddog, found herself immediately crushed that she was basically having to start over. She shoved the feelings down into the dirt along side her body as she wriggled and pressed herself into the pocket under the roots of one of the trees, in time to avoid her teacher's sight. Obviously he'd been told and come to get her too.

She waited painfully quiet, and hiding for him to move on. When he finally did she kept her breath of relief to her mind and began the process all over again.

Only to end up in another hole, this time less lucky to catch herself, this time only dangling by her finger tips. "come on.."

The ground was not so kind to her, and finally gave way, and she fell the rest of the way to the bottom of the pit. In the damp dark all she could smell was more dirt, dirt, and perhaps her own blood 'n sweat. She hadn't escaped without any dings or cuts after all. As she examined the pit she'd been so gracefully dumped into, the walls were mostly smooth but clearly had been dug some what by hand. Three teachers at least now.

With an almost defeated noise, she sat on the ground in her ruined outfit and completely filthy body. Before trying to get herself out again, and again, and a few more times before a Shadow appeared at the top of the pit.

"Times up. You didn't make it to the end." Aizawa said rather calmly to her, if a bit tired, before at least helping her get out now that it was 'over'. She couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not in her.

"You're fucking tracking dirt all over in here, you idiot."

Alarice just gave Bakugo the most tired look possible. The few others in the room looked at her kind of shocked but she didn't seem to notice. Clutching her undershirt and shoes to her chest instead of wearing the shoes.

"Hey, Midoriya." She asked, sounding as exhausted as she looked but not as dirty. The other teen was a little worried to see her, but wasn't quite brave enough to ask her what had happened. "come 'ere, I wanna ask you some stuff, please." She stood in the opening, not quite coming in the common room.

"Uh sure." Midoriya got up from the couch, trying to keep it casual but definitely wondering what her 'extra-class' had been today that she'd showed up looking like a swamp beast.

"I need some help." Alarice started to walk, so she wasn't an obvious eyesore. "With my Quirk, I need some help with my quirk." She repeated seeing him a little confused at first.

"Yeah? What do you need help with? I may not be able to help you much but I can try my best!" He tried to beam and definitely smiled, and it got him a tired smile back. She didn't mention who or why she was asking Midoriya. It definitely hadn't been purple haired Shinso, who had caught sight of her getting dismissed by Aizawa, after handing her, her undershirt and discarded shoes. That upon her brief greeting, and un-bidden complaining of missing her enhanced senses with her quirk, Shinso had suggested that she talk to Midoriya to see if he had ideas about helping her isolate her quirk so she didn't wreck her clothes.

"I want some help seeing if I can change just part of myself." She asked as they got into the elevator together and she began pulling the straggler sticks and twigs from her hair with her right hand. Midoriya went quiet, passing her off to Jurota of 1-B for her questions didn't seem like the best idea. Not that he probably wouldn't have advice but more that Alarice was coming to him for help. So he just said; "Alright, have you ever tried?"

"Not yet, but I'm not getting stuck in another forest," she winced pulling out a stick from her corded hair, "Not being able to access my better hearing and smelling. I've never tried, but I'm unsure whether its something I can or can't do. I'm just not sure how I would focus that kind of energy into part of myself, and I heard you might know how to do something like that."

His cheeks turned a bit pink and he looked away but his smile turned more sweet as they got off onto her floor in her wing. "Haha, you could say that... Well, when do you want to start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Ok, tomorrow it is. I'll see you after class, tomorrow, Stone!" Midoriya offered his hand confidently for her shake. Which she took, despite the fact it would definitely get him dirty by doing so.

"You can call me Alarice, Midoriya, and thanks. 'preciate it." with that she gave a little bow and trundled into her Dorm room, presumably to wash and pass out. Midoriya realizing that the entire way she had walked was tracked with mud, dirt, and leaves. He gave a sigh and decided he'd help clean that up, so she could sleep.

Alarice busied herself with doing pretty much what Midoriya thought she would.


	8. Aizawa drives a car in this one

Chapter 8

"Aizawa drives a car in this one"

"YOU AREN'T GOING?!"

"Yeah I mean, I can't afford to go and I have a lot to focus on." Alarice said with a nervous, shrug of her shoulders. Doing her best to play it up to hide her disappointment. "It's probably for the best."

Mina stared at her, almost horrified. "But you adore him!"

"No, I mean..- uh" Alarice defended. "I just think he's neat! That's all!"

"Mhmmm the only person in this building with a room more decorated than yours in their favorite hero is Deku's. Sure you do." Mina countered back, Forcing Alarice into a sort of half-hearted, red cheek tinged glare at the pink girl for her teasing and also fairly accurate point.

"_So_?" "So I can't believe you aren't going to go!"

"Guys. We were supposed to be studying." Jiro reminded them, not nearly as interested in teasing Alarice about her affections as Mina was. Though her commentary snapped the girls back to their tasks at hand. Eventually giving in and joining the other girls into a bigger, all girl study puddle. Mostly because Momo was a lot better at some of this then they were.

Nothing really held Mina back from re-sharing the fact that despite the Screaming phone incident, Alarice wasn't taking the first chance possible to go to a Live djing show by her favorite DJ. News had spread fast and most of 1-A didn't particularly care, after all she did have extra classes, and with her suit recently destroyed...

Except for two of the group who had taken an interest in seeing more of the transfer student they lived with.

Luckily for Alarice, Jiro had over-heard the hushed tones of Kaminari and Mineta trying to get a hold of tickets. Grape Juice had apparently changed his mind at some point about the transfer. Or maybe it was the photo opportunities such an event provided for some one with his interests. Neither was particularly attractive thoughts to Jiro. With some of her familial connections, it hadn't been hard to even get two tickets. Not to mention, Alarice had happily given Jiro some of her own music, so it only seemed fair to do her this favor in return.

"Oh.. Jiro.." "You can call me Kyoka now, Alarice, " "Kyoka thank you." Alarice stared at the ticket with an inability to control the smile that just spread on her face widely. "you didn't have to do this for me."

"And you won't be alone," Jiro had a small smile back, while she flashed the second one. She was totally going with her. Consumed in the joy that she was getting go, and possibly share a good event with someone who was definitely considered a friend now, she didn't notice the crestfallen faces of Kaminari and Mineta.

"Well now what, we have an extra ticket too!" their voices whined in unison.

"Well, good for you I wouldn't mind going either!" Ashido's chirpy voice answered them, nabbing the spare ticket out of Kaminari's hand. The show would absolutely have a chance to get some real dancing happening, and she wasn't going to miss seeing Alarice act like a fangirl. "I guess we're all going to be going together huh."

Alarice only found herself able to smile. Getting to go to a live show, by her favorite DJ and radio host, who just happened to also be a nifty Pro Hero was probably the best. The hype enough that she didn't care about Mina's reasons for going. Mina and Kyoka were definitely her friends now, sharing this was just sugar on top of a very awesome cake.

All that was left was to make sure that Aizawa knew they were going. As the school had been moved to a Boarding school for safety reasons, their homeroom teacher did need to know about any plans to leave campus. His face was as deadpan as ever when he heard the plan. He already knew about Present Mic's show, he'd been hearing about it quite a lot, with boisterous excitement, directly from the source.

"That's fine, " his voice tired as usual, "Since Mic works here as well, he'll be making sure you guys get back to the Campus dormitories once the show is over."

Since it wasn't a crazy late show any way, that would work. He blinked slowly, nodding. "Just follow the rules."

He watched Alarice follow the others out, a definite spring in her step. Children. He just shook his head, looking at the grumpy texts from Mic briefly about being given "the babysitting" duty. He'd enjoy it like he always managed to but for now: he was going to whine at Aizawa for as long as he could about it. He hoped his students would be smart enough to make use of the time before, to get work done, rather than not.

They caught up to the Saturday evening of the show at a break-neck pace it seemed. Saturday mornings hours flew by with prep and homework; for the few who did their homework any way. Alarice found herself flushing all over, not sure what her classmates would think of her "party wear".

Seeing Kaminari and Jiro's outfits when she came downstairs, was a massive relief. She'd fit right in with this almost all black color aesthetic. Kaminari seemed to have pieces of his hero outfit on, the jacket and choker, but his shirt was a deep red color and his pants were dark jeans. Jiro's looked similar to her outfit, but the shirt had some phrase on it, not clearly read due to her jacket, and had black leatherish looking boots on..

"Ah good... I guess we're just waiting on Mineta and Mina huh?" She offered, her usual calm demeanor was elevated to excitement for today. Her outfit of choice was a pair of shorts, decorated with studs, sandals, stylish and securely tied to her legs. An undershirt that looked like it was netting, and a shirt over-top that was more of a purplish crop top. She too though, was wearing a jacket over this. At her mention of the other two, Mina had just made it downstairs.

"You look adorable Mina!" Alarice commented. Mina had a habit of always looking pretty adorable, and was the much needed splash of color to the group. A pair of jeans in lighter shades than Kaminari's, and a very cute top on it, in a colorful array of pastel colors.

Mineta.. wasn't really as interesting, Grape Juice was clearly out of his element. Jeans, T-shirt, he figured that would work.

"You guys make sure you get back here safe!" Iida proclaimed, that brotherly vibe was coming off him in waves.

"I'm sure we're be fine Iida.." Jiro said, giving him a hand wave, Alarice waving good bye to the young man and following Jiro out the front door of the dorms. "Hey Jiro... how are we getting there?"

"I'm driving you." The kids stopped, Jiro had been about to explain that they would just take public transport but Aizawa had apparently decided otherwise.

It was odd riding in their homeroom teacher's car. It was surprising he even had a car. Sometimes a car told you things about a person... his said nothing. It was clean and devoid of any character. It didn't even smell like a new car any more. He let them out with no fanfare, and nodded to a familiar faced crewmember of Mic's team. They were ushered in by the said team member, whose apparent job was to protect the entry way so to keep casual problems out.

"I'm still really glad you helped me out Kyoka," Alarice's face had pink on it, and there was a slight wiggle to her. Jiro couldn't help but smile a bit herself.

"You don't have to keep thanking me, It wasn't a problem, especially after pikachu embarrassed you." she gave a casual pat to Kaminari's shoulder who could only flush red in the face at the reminder of the 'shrieking phone incident. "I was meaning to ask, is he actually popular over there? Present Mic I mean."

"In the states?, yes and no?" Alarice offered a shrug. "I mean via internet yes, which was the only way I could get ahold of some of the recordings. Out on the street no one really knows who he is, that's only here. Its only since coming here that I've been able to catch the show when it plays over the radio proper." She let out a sigh from deep in her chest, and it wasn't hard to imagine that if she had her tail it would have wagged. It was now official: she was a definite fan for him. With her guard down she was entering 'Midoriya grade' territory of fan-girlishness.

"I told you, you are big fan of his!" Ashido chirped, smiling wide and patting her shoulder. "I bet you nearly lost it when you found out he was our english teacher, huh?"

Alarice buried her hands in her face at that, even her ears turned a little red at Ashido's words. Quietly avoiding responding to her for a moment, Mina's teasing was the only one she couldn't handle. Her voice was muffled from her hands when she responded "He's just so cool."

Smiles pulled at Jiro and Kaminari's faces, Ashido was smiling pretty wide. Cool wasn't exactly the word they used to describe the energetic and loud hero, but it wouldn't do to put a damper on the girl's enjoyment of the moment. Even if she was trying to hide her face about it.

"Well, you do a good job hiding it at school." Kaminari stated blandly, right before the venue's lights dimmed a little, the show was about to start. It was obvious that Mic was the 'boss-man' of his crew, he had clearly made sure his crew knew to keep an eye on the kids for him when he couldn't. They were still setting up just a few more things, however.

"Well... mom was a hero right? She had fans too, I learned what not to do from them in all honesty." Alarice gave a shrug, and a shaky smile at her offered explanation. " He's a person too.. I have to respect that. It wouldn't be appropriate when we're at school."

Jiro at least nodded in agreement, it made sense.

However all 5 teens jumped at the sound of the stage speakers turning on. It was just so loud so suddenly that they were unprepared for it. Despite being at a Present Mic DJ concert.

"Hey Hey Listeners! we're 'bout ready to get started! We're going to have a good night tonight right?!"

There was noisy screams of affirmation in response as Present Mic, in full outfit, walked onto his moderate stage. With his hair, he was visible from a distance, nodded his head approvingly of the response. "Then lets get this thing started already!"

He was his own microphone, and his room of fans for his DJ show, were happy to try to imitate his loudness to celebrate the start. Music began to play quite quickly after that, Mic taking his position with his table, and equipment on it.

Heavy beats filled up the room, and the sound of people having a good time along side it. Having never heard his radio show, or even caught an earful of her teacher's DJing, Jiro was a little surprised at how.. actually good it was. It was blatant that he was having fun, and consequently, so was everyone else.

Alarice and Mina had already gotten to their feet, wordlessly recognizing the other's desire and went to show off to each other their moves on the dance floor.

Alarice fit right in, it was blatantly obvious that she went to these quite often in the states. Just as it was clear to her that Mina was just as practiced in dancing, and break dancing, as her. So they did the natural thing and started dancing with each other. Easily becoming a dancing pair that at some point seemed to have been swallowed up by the mass of other dancing folks.

At some point Mineta had left the sight of the other teens.

Alarice and Mina, had reappeared after a bit from the mass, clearly having been dancing their teenage hearts out. Alarice breathing heavily but grinning broadly.

"Denki! Join us! It's a lot of fun, and we're gonna get closer to the front!" Mina insisted, Alarice gesturing for Kaminari and Jiro to both join them. The hound wasn't going to bother trying to compete with their DJ's beats for sound-space by yelling.

"I dont.. know..!" The blonde found himself pushed towards the pair, Jiro joining behind him.

"Come on Pikachu, you can't hang out on the wall all night!" Jiro could barely hear her voice, a smile on her face as they joined Alarice and Ashido on the 'dance' floor. Alarice taking 'point' in getting through the crowd. She had no problem leading her friends closer to the front, finding a space not too cramped to dance. People had already formed a circle for showing off their more flashy break dancing moves. Alarice looked to her side to Mina, her new found dancing partner. The two UA students hopped right in to show off, and some extra room was made for them. Especially after Alarice's hair came loose by accident, and all the long cords fell from the big braid. Even so, it didn't stop her from keeping pace with her impromptu dance partner. They even managed to get Kaminari to attempt to show off, as well.

The rest of the show blended into a joyous cacophony of sound, light, and friendship-building dancing. It was of course occasionally punctuated by the loud DJ's voice encouraging dancers, ( and every one else ) to get their groove on.


	9. Midnight's Dog Grooming Van

Chapter 9

" Midnight's Dog Grooming Van"

The night slowly coming to an end, with the group of UA teens having collapsed onto a pair of couches; a nearby table stocked with water and sodas, to re-hydrate themselves. Mineta being quite clingy to his phone while the rest relaxed, breathing from their dancing.

"Did you all have a good time!?" Mic called into the crowd as the music wound down for the end. A chorus of yes! answered him.

"AWWWEEESOME! Let's keep this night close to our hearts then! Thank you all for coming out!" The music was coming to an end, now and he was very clearly heard. "Travel Safe, Don't forget to tune in to Hands up Radio! I hope I can see you all next show! GOOOOOOOOOOOOODDD NIGHT EVERYBODY!"

Alarice looked towards the front of the venue, as lights were slowly coming back on, so people weren't blinded by bright lights. There was a small gathering of fans around the stage, and she could clearly see Mic, big smile on his face, talking to his Fans. She jolted, feeling some one touch her shoulder, turning around to see Ashido with a sly smile on her face. "You're staring."

"What?! No! No I'm not!" Alarice's face flushed pink and red.

"Hmm yeah that looked like staring to me too." Jiro joined in, smiling herself at the amount of emotion they were able to get out of Alarice.

"Come on guys! Don't gang up on me!" Alarice pouted, only for her new friends to all be cheekily smiling at her. She puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

"See, now would be an 'appropriate' time go do a little fangirling riiight?" Kaminari leaned on his elbow, waggling eyebrows, before his face lit up. "I know! You can ask him to sign your phone!"

The flushed glare he received was enough to make him start laughing at her expense. Before Ashido stood up, offering her hand to Alarice. "Come on, I'll come with."

She knew they were still teasing her, but she took it any way. Getting up off the couch and walking with Mina Ashido who was so chipper about it. Jiro and Kaminari following behind with Mineta left to drink his soda in silence with his phone.

"OH Mr. Present Mic! Before you leave, my friend wants a signature too!" Ashido called, her voice pitched to a silly tone, as she pushed Alarice up. It would be weird if he was still at the school, but he wasn't, he was performing in a... performance role. The flush had left Alarices face and she had already gotten the phone out. Despite the teasing, and the embarrassment of the screaming phone incident, it did pretty much land her here.

Mic didn't miss a beat, smiling a wide smile. "Oh my, Pink Listener! Your friend is in luck then! I think my marker still has some ink left!" He turned to Alarice who offered the phone up as sacrifice. "Is that what you'd like me to sign, Miss Listener?"

"Yes Please." Alarice responded, her cheeks pink, and a smile tugging on her cheeks that she was trying to keep down. They were making it so much more silly than it needed to be.

Mic took it from her, having a chuckle at the silliness. Signing it with added dramatic flourish.

"Alright, do you young listeners mind cooling your heels till my crew's got it mostly packed up? Once that's done, I'll get us back to UA." Mic's voice was back to a calm, familiar teacher-like tone. He handed Alarice back her phone, and patted her on the head. The look on her face was like he'd handed a her a solid gold brick.

"That's fine Sensei, we can wait. Do you mind if we go over to the corner store and get some snacks though?" Jiro asked, agreeing, it wouldn't take to long to break down the things, but, she was hungry. The word 'snacks' had gotten Alarice's attention too.

"Sure, just be right back, and get me something too." With that he had to turn back to his crew, so they could start packing up. He was the boss man here after all.

"Was he joking?" Kaminari mumbled as the group headed to the exit.

"Maybe? Possibly?" Ashido questioned, before just shrugging "I don't know"

Alarice followed behind them, pleased as pie with the signed phone. Truth was that she simply hadn't been sure of asking. Just getting to enjoy his show was good enough for her, she thought, but now she had an actual memento to keep with her.

The night around them was quiet, it was late enough that most people weren't walking around at night. The corner store was actually, on the corner proper and not that far away. Hell they could still see the venue from there.

Alarice had to admit: she hadn't had many chances to go shopping or look around at the different offerings so she found herself staring at the new variety of foods she could eat. A lot of this wasn't really available in the states, and some of it was obviously familiar, with new packaging of course.

"So, I guess his silly Radio Show helped you learn Japanese too?" Jiro couldn't help but ask, joining to stand next to her, in equal questioning, if different reasons of her choices.

"hmm? Yeah," she scratched the back of her head. "Only a little bit though, I have taken actual classes."

"It makes sense..." Jiro commented, her voice trailing off as she also stared at the chips. Rather than just grabbing a familiar bag of chips that she knew she liked, Alarice, decided to go with something she'd never had before. She liked shrimp and she liked chips, and since caloric intake wasn't an issue...

Alarice followed Jiro up to the front to pay, apparently beating the rest up there. Getting their chips paid for, and leaning against the wall waiting for the others.

"I've never had shrimp chips before.." Alarice said while opening up her bag of shrimp chips, catching a whiff of them from in the bag. This was definitely going to be interesting flavor!

"Yeah? They're alright, not my thing though usually." Jiro stopped talking to eat some of her chips. At least this was a good choice. "We should probably try to get Mic something, he did ask."

But neither girl could figure out what that thing should be.

Alarice buried herself in chips at that point, reminiscing about her previous life before UA. She remembered telling her Japanese teacher about who her favorite hero was. Who, she had to admit, seemed to find it weird that she'd like the radio show but said nothing. Her dad vaguely knew, but really no one else had actually known about it. No one here would have known now, either, had Kaminari not pulled her headphones out of her phone by accident. It was nice to have friends, especially ones who didn't judge you too hard for your interests. Ashido and the rest made it back up to the counter too now. Alarice had already eaten all of her chips in startling speed. Wolfed them down, she was hungrier than she thought.

As they walked out, chattering as teenagers do, a man who clearly saw their group just walked right through them, having hit Alarice to do so as he'd come out of the alley way. Knocking her hard enough she actually made a noise. One hand going to her side with a wince, and the other against the wall so she didn't fall down. Much like the rest of her group she'd turned her attention to the stranger as he continued to speed-walk away. The teens were a little to shocked to say anything for a moment. Except for Mineta, who hadn't been watching the stranger; "h-hey, you're bleeding."

"That guy just stabbed her!" Kaminari gasped out, and it was unclear which one gave chase first, him or Ashido, but both were suddenly running down the pavement after the stranger.

"Guys! Wait!" Jiro called, failing to get their attention. "Mineta, go get Mic! Right now!"

Alarice pulled her hand away from her body at the statement, looking at the bloody red digits of her hand and the 3 holes now in her body that hadn't been there before. There was a lot coming out. She felt cold for a second, then hot, as she put her hand right back to her wounds trying apply some pressure to them. That sent a whole new sensation screaming up her spine that made her legs shake, skin feel cold, and the world start to rotate.

Mineta didn't really think to argue, she was so forceful with her words, that he simply did, running back to the venue as fast as his short legs could carry him. Thankfully it hadn't been more than a few buildings down the block away. Scurrying around the legs of the crewman who'd opened the door, and ducking under the arms of another who was carrying a speaker.

"PRESENT MIC SENSEI!" Said hero whipped around to see why Mineta was shrieking. Making a short run over to the small teen to hear what the alarm was about. "This weirdo stabbed Alarice! Denki and Mina are chasing after him!"

"What direction?" "Heading south down the ave-"

He didn't finish his comment he'd tried to keep up with Mic's longer legs as he'd speed-walked to door, but once out the door and with directions, Mic had taken off into a run. Mineta was a little surprised at how fast Present Mic could move. He was always the presenting voice at school, it was easy to forget he was a fully licensed Hero. Mic caught a glimpse of Jiro, Her phone was out, and she made brief eye contact with him, nodding once. Alarice was on the ground next to her.

He kept up his run till he could see his two other students, trying catch up with the guy who had just stabbed their friend. Going from a run to a sprint, to catch up to them. He could hear the two students shouting at people to stay away from the guy they were chasing. Good, he didn't need any one getting caught in his attack.

He caught up to his two students quite easily, and ran past them.

"Hey, everybody! I want to see you... GET DOWN!" His shout was quite easily heard, and he was more than close enough to pull-off his attack. A hand went to the buttons on his directional speaker, and something like a whistle came out. While those close found the noise still terribly loud, the villain clearly heard it the worst, doing a face plant into the concrete.

His pace slowed to a jog getting to his villain, unconscious on the pavement. Kaminari and Ashido catching up to him now.

"You two, head back to Jiro, I'll be right behind you." It was weird to hear their up-beat English teacher speak more like their homeroom teacher.

Present Mic pulled out a zip tie hand-cuffs, while the two teens ran back to their fallen friend. Leaving him to the job he was fully licensed to be completing. Taking care of the villain was a short issue, the only thing else needed now was to get some one to pick up the other kids besides Alarice. His suspicion was confirmed as he made it back to the kids, finishing up his text to Midnight, the smell of blood hit him.

"Are the rest of you okay?" Mic asked, there was nods and a soft yes from Ashido. None of them were panicking. One of his Crew, a young man who worked with his audio set up for shows, had come over to also make sure the teens were all okay. The crew member looked more disturbed than the prospective heroes-in-training.

"The ambulance should be here soon." was Jiro's response to him as he walked calmly over, squatting down next to her and Alarice. She was keeping pressure on the wound, thought the girls had clearly decided used Alarice's Hoodie to stop the bleeding. The sleeves were tied on around her abdomen. Pretty tight too, Jiro's hand on the folded cloth kept it firmly in place and pressed down. Alarice had her right arm over her eyes, she shifted her arm to see that he'd come back.

"Keep doing what your doing Jiro, you're doing fine. Miss Stone, you'll be fine too, and hey, " He cracked a doofy looking smile, "At least you don't have to worry about holes in your shirt!"

Alarice gave him a lopsided smile of her own before sniffling, remembering the stupid net undershirt she had on. "That's so stupid."

"But it's true!," He was expertly distracting Alarice from the fact Jiro was pressing into her injury, and that she was clearly hurting. He noticed her wince though. "Hey, the ambulance will be here soon, do you want to hear my All Might impression while we wait?"

"I... guess?" It wasn't like any one there had anything else to do at that moment.

"alright! " He cleared his throat. Before striking a very dramatic pose, and in his deepest voice. "Don't Worry ! For I am Here~!"

Alarice smiled with teeth this time, "God that was so awful."

"what!? Awful?! Me?!." A hand went to his chest in mock offense. "What a thing for a fan of mine to say!"

Alarice continued to almost smirk at his mock offense. Letting out a little laugh at him. About then, the blaring of the ambulance as they were coming around could be heard. The Cops not far behind them. Mic had gotten up so he could talk to the cops, telling Alarice one more time, that she'd be okay.

The EMT's were gentle enough where it could be spared, they were more worried about the girls life than her comfort. Which was why Mic was pulled away from the cops. Alarice had to go right now to the hospital. Though she couldn't hear what was said right now, Jiro at least could tell it was serious.

Meanwhile Mineta stared at the unusual manner in which Nemuri, Midnight, had chosen to get over to the kids and pick them up.

Why was she in a Dog Grooming van?

"Kids, go with Midnight, she'll take you back to UA."

"But she's-"

"She'll do her job! I have to take care of Miss Stone!"

With that, he clambered in to said ambulance, which loaded up the wounded teen, and shut it's doors, rushing towards the closest hospital. Leaving the rest of the Gang, staring dumbfounded at the Dog Grooming van they were expected to ride in with Midnight, who didn't really look like Midnight right now. Event tho she'd put on her sunglasses to make it easier for them.


	10. Puppy Dog Eyes

Chapter 10

"Puppy Dog eyes"

The conditions that allowed the Pro Hero to ride with them were layered one on top of the other. Alarice was a minor, a teen, and technically, Mic was her guardian for now. The bleeding was slowed, but she had lost a significant amount, and the EMTs were worried about what might have been hit. Mic was also needed to keep her conscious, since her blood-loss was bad enough that her losing her consciousness, was a real concern.

It wasn't just the sad puppy-dog eyes she'd given him when she'd been placed on the stretcher to get loaded up into the vehicle. There was also that small note of medical information, to which she had some of her own memorized... but Mic had the rest pulled up on his phone. Aizawa had sent him everyone in the little group's medical information in case of the worst possible scenarios.

He was grateful now, even if he had sent 'mom' emojis to Aizawa in response.

He nodded to the EMT, giving them said information.

They nodded back and he noticed that she'd reached out one hand, to be held, probably by any one who was willing. So he did the hero thing and held Alarices hand, who had finally given up trying not to cry.

"It's okay to cry when _your_ the one on the stretcher, you know. " His voice came out unexpectedly soft and reassuring. She nodded stiffly, hiding some of her face behind her other hand. She heard one of the nurses say she was being a model patient.

Alarice, however, felt nothing but shame and pain. She'd tried really hard not to cry the whole time, even though she was in terrible pain. She'd done so well to not cry and wail while her newfound friends were around.. and then..once she was in the privacy of the vehicle, she couldn't help it. Even in front of her favorite hero she still couldn't keep it in and cried. Hell he was even holding her hand for her while she cried like a big dumb baby.

"I didn't really get to ask," Mic started, he really was unable to stand awkward silences, especially those where someone was crying as the only sound, "Does you hair...does it naturally do that?"

Alarice sniffled back tears. "w-what?" her voice made her sound tired.

"Your hair, does it just grow like that?"

He meant the thick twisting curls of hair that formed tight cords of hair, she picked up one. "y-yeah. I help it so doesn't look really messy but... yeah it just.. does this."

She couldn't really pull it like a spring, but as she ran her thumb over the corded hair, it was clear the care she did give it.

"Huh, That's pretty cool, I think that would defeat the gel I use for this sky-piercing mane of mine." He added in a flourish of silly tone to make up for the lack of gesturing he could do. One hand bracing himself, the other holding on to her. He noticed one of the nurses make some gesture to him to keep talking. Like he needed to be asked to do that.

"pr-probably it's pretty hard to style it any other way." Alarice admitted, "and you'd look weird with blond, dread-like hair."

He made a face in return to her commentary about his hair. "Pft, well I'm going to try it out now, just to prove I wouldn't."

He got one teary smile as a reward for his silliness. He needed to keep it up, they were almost to the hospital. "So, do you wanna hear something about your homeroom teacher?"

Her eyes kind of widened for a second, "yeah?"

"He and I? We went to school together, same place, UA." He started, there was an impish look to his face as he began his short story. "So you know your teach, very serious, all rational right?"

Alarice just nodded, she was at-least listening now, but how much attention was there, was dubious..

"He once, and this is totally true, had a crush in high school." This was such a benign, half-farcical story, "It's weird right? Like he's so serious how could he even hear the call of his heart? Well he did. He denied it, claiming the emotion itself was just an irrational feeling, even though he tried to figure out a rational way to communicate it... And the big day came..."

Alarice wasn't 100% familiar with social customs to confessing feelings in Japan, but she was starting to guess they weren't that different from the States.

"He didn't do it. He came back, flushed pink, whole face. That's how he blushes, his whole face turns pink and red. He chickened out." He nodded confidently to confirm his story that Aizawa chickened out on confessing his feelings to some one else. " Oh he made up some excuse about it not being a logical thing to do and they should focus, blah blah. But I could tell."

Alarice really didn't know what this had to do with their current situation, but she couldn't help but crack a smile about it. The idea of her stern, honestly scary homeroom teacher Aizawa, Eraserhead, being too scared to confess his own feelings to some one was a bit ridiculous.

"But he's so... Weird."

"He is, He is a very, very weird man." Mic confirmed, with a nodding smirk to his face. "He's not good at it even now. Pros just aren't always good at emotions sometimes, especially when it comes to themselves. 's different for everyone."

No way was Mic about to admit his own fear of bugs, but he was willing to throw out a half-true tidbit about his boyfriend, to keep Alarice talking.

"Mic, can I ask you a question?"

"Mhmm, I'm all ears, shoot."

"Is it because of his quirk that he just.. sleeps where ever,or...?"

Mic was quiet for a second, then cracked a half smile at Alarice about it. "It is, I think mostly because of how little sleep he gets." He then shrugged a little bit "He might also enjoy the reaction it gets out of people."

"Maybe.."

"We're here." called the driver, as the ambulance was a flurry of humans-in-motion, again. Mic followed where he could, promising Alarice he'd definitely be waiting for her when the doctors were done with her. She nodded, and she was taken away, into the care of Doctors and Nurses who knew what they were doing.

Leaving Present Mic, Pro Hero, standing there a little awkwardly with only a few mildly interested stares. He was handed paperwork to look at, sign and fill out as the impromptu guardian for Alaraice Stone. Which he did before he acknowledged the buzzing in his phone that he'd ignored in favor of the injured student in his care.

Even a temp teach apparently, had been given some access to the phone numbers for the other teachers, it looked like.

Sunshine: What happened with Alarice?

Sunshine: I'll be over to the hospital soon!

He hadn't messaged her, and he hadn't given access to his location information to her; at the moment it was strictly for UA security and Eraserhead. He had temporarily given Nemuri access as an emergency contact for the night. That was how she'd been able to come get the kids so quickly. He looked over at Alarice's phone, which he'd been handed earlier, little message alerts had popped up from Sunshine, asking her if she was okay. He was pretty sure Alarice hadn't messaged her yet.. or at all. The phone had mostly been with him the whole the time.

Did Sunshine have a tracker in Alarice's phone? That didn't give precise information, but a quick search would tell where she was more specifically. He hadn't even contacted Aizawa yet, and only had hesitated because Aizawa needed to sleep. The homeroom teacher should know of course, and he would, if he didn't already. Aizawa would either show up or call him, and Mic trusted that his partner would trust him as a perfectly capable caretaker for the student for now.

He saw Sunshine come in, to his surprise. '_Gotta find out how she moves that quickly...'_ She caught some attention with that golden skin of hers, and waved him over to her.

"ah, I'm so sorry I took so long to get here, Is she alright?"

"They're seeing to her now. I'm waiting since I promised her I'd see her when she got out." His voice was low and calm, he was in a damn hospital after all, no point in being loud here. He watched Sunshine carefully behind his sunglasses.

"Well, shes safe now, did you-?"

"Yup, The villain has been taken care of. We'll know more later about why, if there's a why." When Alarice wasn't in surgery though he suspected he'd be going down the station later to talk to the man he'd caught, or sit in on an interview, typical stuff. Someone would need to get a statement from the other UA kids, Alarice would need to make one.. paperwork. Fun fun!

"Alright, I'll probably head over there next, now that she's okay." Sunshine nodded her head, her curls bouncing a little. She shifted her weight and headed to leave before his arm blocked her path.

"Wait a minute now, there's no rush, the police are seeing to him right now any way." She gave the voice hero a strange look that he didn't particularly like being given. Especially not by another "hero".

"You're right, I've just.. been very busy." She said, letting out a sigh, her shoulders sagging a little bit, before she ran a hand through her hair. Whatever it was he just saw disappeared from her features. "Do you mind doing me a massive favor? Can you stay with her tonight, please? I'll compensate you if you have to stay longer than that too."

He wished for Aizawa's poker face, feeling his eyebrows shoot up on his head. A million questions popped up in his head, as well. Ones he knew instantly, not to ask her. So he gave the safest answer he could give. It was the weekend, technically, so he didn't have school to teach, and by luck he didn't have any patrols either... "Sure."

She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a gentle hug that surprised him. She let out another long sigh, but this one ended with a wide pleasant smile. "Thank you so much for taking care of her during this Mic, I really owe you one later!"

With that, she was gone before he could stop her. Despite all the shine and glamour, there was something he didn't like about her. That golden flower was a rose, with long sharp thorns she wasn't afraid of using. Aizawa would no doubt be by at some point, so there would be a chance to talk to him about this.

When they released Alarice from surgery, stitched up and under, they'd set her up in her little room, letting the nice Pro Hero (who had been so graciously quiet) know where she was. Which was where he was now, legs propped up on a chair, taking a page from Aizawa's book: he was taking a nap. He'd taken off his speaker ( really no use for it right now ) so his bare neck was free, despite still being in the rest of his hero uniform. His sunglasses and headphones were also off, sitting on a nearby table, and another pair of glasses, very plain looking, were threatening to fall off his face.

Alarice didn't really know what to think, or how to feel. She felt okay, glad that when she woke up, in the clear middle of the damn night, that she indeed: wasn't alone. He was sound asleep but he'd kept his promise. So she instead busied herself with lifting the cover off her bed to check her side. There was a set of bandages on her side. She couldn't feel any thing there, probably from painkillers. An IV was in her arm, which she knew better than to fiddle with, looking up at the bags the clear tubes led up too. Well. One was clear. The darker one looked like it was almost empty.

She rubbed her eyes with her free hand, and realized she was terribly bored. Though that said, Alarice felt like her thoughts were swimming through syrup. So maybe bored was a good thing right now.

It took her far to long notice the nurse who came in to see how she was doing. She only noticed the nurse when she said something.

"How do you feel?"

"mkay.. fuzzy. I'm a little hungry I guess." Alarice practically mumbled. It was weird being in a hospital. She was definitely glad she wasn't alone here, that was for sure. Their conversation seemed to have woken Mic, who rubbed at his own eyes for a second, before pushing his glasses up to a proper position. "Ah you're awake, Listener Stone. "

"I am. I think." was Alarice's confused response as he re-adjusted himself to be sitting properly.

"what time...?" He asked, his voice surprisingly subdued.

"It's 2:30 am." the Nurse answered pleasantly.

"Ahh pretty late huh, Listeners?" He smiled warmly at both of them, the nurse blushing a little and laughing quietly. Alarice looking confused for a moment, before the nurse gently touched her shoulder to get her attention. "I'll see to you getting something to eat."

Alarice mumbled an okay, before zoning out almost, and then coming right back. Looking at Mic who was now looking at this phone, before he was yawning audibly. This had not been the way she had planned her first show with Present Mic DJ-ing, to end. Yet there it was: she was laying in a hospital bed, stitches in her side and her favorite radio show host flipping through his phone while in the same room with her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled out quietly after a moment of dead silence.

Mic looked up at her confused for a moment as to what she'd be apologizing for, then realized why she would. This probably felt all kinds of weird, weird enough to be his fan and his student, now he was basically her impromptu-guardian.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Listener." He offered, while he watched her fiddle with the fabric of the sheet covering her. "although I accept it any way."

He gave her a toothy grin, that she halfheartedly smiled back. Still clearly not sure about this at all.

"and, technically as your teacher, since UA is a boarding school now, and as a Pro Hero, nothing I've done so far should be anything you feel guilty about." He gave her ankle a gentle little pat.

There was a quiet 'thank you' in response to him, that he nodded approvingly too. She continued to fiddle with the blanket a moment longer. "Mic, um.."

"Yes?"

"Does Sunshine have to know... about... that I got stabbed?"

"Her? Well, we can't very well hide that, can we?" He was the one fidgeting with the cloth on the bed now. Now he knew for sure she hadn't messaged Sunshine at all. He looked up and her eyes had become dinner-plate huge. "Whats that for now!?"

Her voice lowered to almost a whisper; "Aizawa-sensei has to know, too, doesn't he?"

The look on her face told him all he needed to know, and he recalled the conversation he'd had about the 'new transfer' with his boyfriend. He tried to be reassuring when he answered her.

"ahh, I'm afraid he does, Listener. Don't worry too much about it, he's just a rational guy, not _unreasonable_."

Now her big dinner plate sized eyes locked onto him, her eyebrows coming together to show how serious she was; "Don't tell him I cried__in the Van! You said I could!"

He put his hands up in surrender, trying not to smirk or smile at her worry. "I wont tell! I promise!"

Alarice was in the middle of giving what was probably intended to be a stern, suspicious look, when the door opened again, and Nemuri was there. A bag over one shoulder and a brown bag that wafted out the smell of burgers.

"Oh Hizashi what are you promising this time~?"

"Nothing you need to know about, Nemuri." Hizashi said with a grunt, as he got up to take the bag from her shoulder, heading into the attached bathroom.

"Hiya Alarice, they stitched you up huh?" Alarice nodded slowly in slight confusion to her. Not really recognizing the woman with long dark hair. She smiled either way and only nodded. She didn't think to sniff at all either, not that it would have helped at the moment. " You usually see me as Midnight! You can call me Nemuri right now."

Against her will, her cheeks turned pink, and she wished for something to hide her face. Her initial interactions with Nemuri had been a little on the uncomfortable side. Another nurse came in after her, a cup with a straw in her hands. "Sorry Kiddo, you have to stick to liquid food for a little bit."

Alarice nodded, dropping into her more normal, quiet observational self. Taking the cup with a 'thank you' and a nod, and giving it a try. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. It would have to do. Hizashi came back out of the bathroom, wearing normal, street clothes. His hair was down too. It was weird seeing him like this, why was he still there? He was going way out of his way... not that she didn't appreciate it.

Nemuri pulled a burger out of the brown bag and pushed it into Hizashi's hands. He let out a soft noise of relief; "oh thank you, Nemuri."

A comfortable silence settled while the three people in the room settled into eating. Nemuri clearly settling-in, to eat and sit in company of others. Even though no one seemed particularly up to saying much of anything.

Not too long into their burger fest, yet another person had made their way into the room, much to Alarice's quiet distress. Trying to hide herself behind her phone, which still had the permanent signature on the back of it. Hizashi looked up from his own phone, Nemuri glanced behind her before returning to the bag of burgers.

"Yamada. Nemuri.."

Aizawa's deep, tired voice carried easily in the quiet room. He looked over at his transfer student, she looked like she was doing fine, if trying desperately to pretend he couldn't see her. "Do both of you-" He was some what cut off by the burger being offered to him. Which he, with the slightest of nods, accepted. He turned to his transfer student, who despite being obviously unable to turn invisible, was still trying. "Are you doing okay, Stone?"

"Yeah.. I mean yes, Aizawa Sensei." He nodded, unwrapping the burger with less than delicate care.

"Hey Sho', I need to talk to you, out in the hall." Hizashi said, standing and heading over towards the door with Aizawa, who gave the blonde a glare for using that nickname for him in front of a student. Still he allowed himself, while chewing on the burger, to be lead outside by his partner. He listened quietly to what Yamada Hizashi had to say about 'Miss Sunshine' and Alarice's relationship, remaining in that exhausted-man expression while he filled up on a gifted burger.

Nemuri and Alarice waited in silence, trying to listen to the two talk, but neither seemed to be getting what they wanted hearing wise. The older woman mumbling something to herself before finally showing some sign of exhaustion herself, yawning. "You wanna talk about what happened, kiddo?"

Aizawa and Hizashi came back into the room, Aizawa looking at his transfer student. She was nodding off, phone held up as if she was reading it but the screen had already gone black from non-activity. Nemuri had left as they walked in, heading home to sleep herself. He calmly reached out to get Stone's sleepy-eyed attention, a little thankful that he wasn't receiving the 'I'm invisible don't look at me' act from her again.

"We'll do something different when you get back, for your extra training, so for now just rest." He put a little of that 'hero act' into his voice, since she was probably not of the clearest mind right now. Stone looked a little relieved to hear that. Though he was already planning that any way, Recovery Girl needed a vacation too after all, and her assistant wasn't quite as gifted.

"And I'll be staying just a little longer, hah, Standard stuff!" Hizashi added, though he watched Alarice's eyes really droop completely. He got a mumbled answer and a small flutter of her eyelids before they just stayed closed. He stopped from heading back to his chair by a firm hand on his shoulder, the man attached to said arm, was gesturing silently to be quiet, and to look at the door.

From beneath the door, was the clear cast shadow as if some one was standing quite close, right in front of it. Waiting for the door to be opened to them. Hizashi could feel his heartbeat go up, even though he told himself it might be a benign situation, something else told him to be cautious. Maybe that something else was Aizawa, who even dressed in his civilian clothes, moved like a ghost across the floor. Closing the distance to the door way, getting close enough to hear the deep inhalations of the person on the other-side. He looked to the shadow's cast from underneath the door, and reached out for the handle. Before his fingertips even touched the metal, the shadows vanished, as if the person outside the door had ceased to exist. Acting on instinct, he opened the door in a hurry, activating his quirk, in attempt to catch whoever had just been standing outside the door, smelling at it like a dog.

Nothing.

Just two nurses walking down the hall way.

He pulled himself back inside the threshold of the doorway, hair settling back into its lazy state as he did so. Hizashi was standing just as still as he had been tasked, but now was quietly walking over to Aizawa's side, who was processing what had just happened.

"It's good your staying here Hizashi." Aizawa said, closing the door, and coming quietly back over. Hizashi was quiet for a second, looking at the other seriously, before brushing some of Aizawa's dark hair gently to tuck it behind one of his ears. Laying a soft and quiet smooch on the others scruffy cheek. Hizashi could handle protection on his own.

"Yup, now you head on back, I'll keep watch over this little chick."

Aizawa cracked that odd ball smile back at him; "Don't you mean Pup?"


	11. 21 - 24 Stitches

Chapter 11

"21-24 stitches"

Despite the somewhat desperate attempts to keep people from noticing the blood Jiro had inevitably gotten on her clothing, it had been hard to keep what had happened a secret. When your friends and classmates are also heros-in-training, 'Its not my blood' definitely only made things worse. That Mineta couldn't help himself from saying that they'd been dropped-off by a Dog Grooming van, made it near impossible. There was also the small detail that Alarice hadn't shown back up with them, either. Iida had been the first to grill them about it, thusly: to be the first to know the situation in any detail.

Sadly, by mid-day the next day, half of 1-A knew, and by the end, all of them knew. Worse was that by the time Alarice arrived back on campus, having ridden with their English teacher, again in Aizawa's car, everyone knew. Everyone. Sure the story had mutated here and there but almost the entire student body had some knowledge that something had happened and rumors were abundant. Everything from the truth to the extreme; that the hell-hound quirk girl got nearly eaten by a wild giant dog from the dog grooming van.

Everyone knew that Alarice had gotten injured enough that she had been rushed away to hospital.

"Stone! It's good to have you back in one piece!" Iida stiffly greeted her back and she gave him a rather dead eyed look back, before nodding. She wasn't going to admit she was still supplied with some painkillers for the healing stitches in her side. Sure with the help of the healing quirks of the people around her, it wouldn't be more than another day longer but still it felt weird and there was pain from being stabbed where the muscles were healing. Alarice just looked at him, before jumping at being patted on the head.

"You good, Stone?" Hizashi asked, waiting for her tired nod. She did, and he waved to Iida, before heading towards the Teacher's building.

She started up the stairs and found Iida's hand on her shoulder, again with that big brother energy, that he definitely had going on with him. It did help he was actually just a little bit older than she was. "It'll be Fine."

Still she found herself unwilling to speak about it so just nodded to him.

Heading to the downstairs kitchenette for some thing comforting, perhaps like one of Sato's finished cakes, which the whole room smelled like. Delicious, warm, sweet cake. She noticed uncomfortably that the room had gotten quiet when she walked in, and just looked at her silent classmates, equally silent. She broke the awkward silence first. "Sato, did you make any cake.. Is there still some left?"

"uh... yeah ! Yeah there is! You're totally welcome to some~!" There was a small amount of blush on his face, either because he had hesitated out of possible concern, or pride that the first thing she wanted, was to eat one of his cakes.

"Thanks, I'll get it myself." Which she did, and then carried her slice, along with her small bag of the previous days clothes, that reeked of sweat and blood to her nose, up to her room. Ignoring pretty much everyone and leaving before any one could ask her anything else. She didn't want to answer, when she'd been in the hospital around Hizashi, he'd successfully made it less of the depressing experience it would have been if she'd been alone. Now though she didn't want to acknowledge that she'd been injured, and in fact, still was injured. She could tell they were going to ask any minute if she was okay and she didn't have a good answer.

She was grateful at least that Aizawa, being true to his word, what little they did on Sunday was low in its impact and actually kind of relaxing. Focusing more on her ( and Shinso's ) analytical skills and observation, than working them physically to the bone. Though, to her frustration, Midoriya had appeared to avoid her; whatever, she was too tired to practice again anyway.

It was easy to say that, when Monday morning rolled around, and despite being the last day she'd spend 'injured' she wasn't looking forward to it. There was a minor but constant ache in her side, that she desperately tried to ignore. Jiro seemed to be the only one able to treat her normally, and skipped-over talking about the incident in favor of asking more typical questions. Conversing normally like students would before their homeroom teacher came in.

The day began and Aizawa caught Alarice by her shoulder after he was about to hand them off to All Might for Hero training.

"Not you, Stone, you'll be with me and watch your classmates." Aizawa's voice was calm as if trying to be as a gentle as possible about holding her back from doing the exercise. At least her teacher had waited till literally no one else would have noticed, he didn't particularly like holding her back, but this could be capitalized in its own way.

He watched her settle, disheartened, into a position to comfortably watch while he did the same. Settling into a near-by chair, and looked like he was about to fall asleep.

Alarice watched her classmates interact and for the first time found herself almost upset that she had to be put to the side for her own sake. She also found herself thinking, instead, of things her classmates could improve on. She found herself wanting to work with Tsuyu, and Deku. It'd be nice to get something of a Redo again on her and Kirishima as a team, and even started to have ideas about how to work cooperatively with Kaminari, Mina or Koda even. Though she doubted Japan had enough herd animals for that last idea... but it would be kind of fun to help farmers with their cattle.. She shook the idea from her head, it was tame, if cute. Would she really be okay with being ridden? The more she thought about it the more she thought that it wasn't a big deal, if it made for a good move to use with others. Not to mention if she matched herself with the right teammate for a Job they could make quite a team with her higher-defense type nature.

Aizawa of course was quietly also observing with her, making his own notes of judgment on his students. His transfer was quiet the whole time, but he wasn't too surprised. So far in the time he'd had, to get to 'know' Stone, he still knew surprisingly little when it was broken down. She was loyal, but secretive, he doubted he would have ever known she was a fan of his boyfriend if there hadn't been circumstances that forced her hands. Not that he wanted her to waste time talking to him all the time any way.

"Sensei," she started, breaking her pattern of being the non-intiator of conversations. "Is there still time for me to be able to make a change to my suit?"

"Should be, might be a bit close."

She was fiddling with her hair when he looked at her, letting her continue if she wanted too. "I think I want to make a modification to it..." She trailed off, not really saying what that was going to be. Then again, he didn't really care, not in the specifics of what it might be any way. Support wasn't his Job after all, if it wasn't viable they'd tell her so.

"Stone, " Alarice looked at him confused for a moment. "Who do you think has the most developed control of their quirk so far? Biggest threat to you? Weakest to you?"

"Oh." She hadn't expected him to ask her specifics apparently when she started talking to him. Of course he would ask her about these things. "um... Uravity, ah and Froppy, I think, have the most control. but maybe its because they're really cooperative with others that it becomes clear. They're very at-home with their powers, they're both really calm too, like they're balanced."

She looked to him to see if that was what he wanted, and got nothing. Aizawa fought out the voice of Mic telling him how cute the puppy dog eyes were. It was absolutely not cute. Though it was hidden from him again as she accepted she wasn't going to get a clear answer and answered his last two questions.

".. Iida, Koda and Uraraka, I think I would have the possible hardest time. I don't have the benefit of my adaption with my form against them. Hell-hound form is also really bulky, so that can get the way too.. Also its sort of like an animal so I don't know if Koda's ability would have any affect yet? " She paused but clearly thinking about who to pick even though there was a clear obvious answer. "Kaminari's the weakest to me I think, Momo and I also share the same weakness of energy consumption."

"What if you didn't have your quirk at all? What then?"

Alarice looked embarrassed, realizing that she had totally focused on her with quirk, her hell-hound self, not all of herself. She scratched the back of her head anxiously a bit before daring to look back up. "oh. Right. Yeah..."

"Who do you think you could take right now?"

Alarice shifted uncomfortably, it was good that she was taking her quirk more seriously as the tool it truly was. However she was starting to ignore her abilities outside of it. " I don't know... maybe Momo?"

"Think about the classmates you said were the most developed, Stone." With that he walked away from her and down to the whole class that had wrapped up their exercise. Alarice sat there and essentially did as she was told.

With her class recalled, she decided to dodge the awkward conversations and looks about her not being part of the exercise, and instead headed down to the support area to talk about her modifications she had in mind. Not too terribly thrilled to deal with Hatsume again, and then thrilled she wasn't there to harass her. Instead delivering her ideas directly to Powerloader, a teacher whom she had new found respect for.

"That's all huh? That shouldn't be too hard to get worked in." He nodded his metal hooded head, then noticed she was still awkwardly standing there. "Was there more?"

"Uh, well is it possible to get a second one made as soon as this one is done? Just so... I'm not caught without one again?" Alarice asked, shrugging her shoulders and trying not to think about being dropped down into holes and pits again. She swore she could see him smirking just a little about that.

"Don't want do a rematch without one huh?" There was definitely a smile there, maybe even a chuckle. "Shouldn't be an issue. You aren't the only student here whose needed a backup suit because of their quirk."

"oh, alright, well thank you." She gave a nervous nod, and at the shooing motion scrambled out before Hatsume got back. As much as she was annoyed about being pulled out of the exercise because of the lack of suit and still healing stab wounds, she wasn't sure she could deal with Hatsume while injured. Not to mention the baby threat that was still there. What even were the babies she talked about!? She couldn't stop picturing the ridiculous idea that Hatsume would some how be strapping actual babies of some kind to her.

Course that meant joining at least some of her class for lunch. Deciding to sit with the ladies as long as no one fussed over her, but mostly because Jiro was there. She settled herself down next to Momo, across from Jiro, of the two, Momo being the most tense. Despite everyone sitting down now and eating... Uraraka couldn't take it any more. "Alarice are you okay?"

Alarice just looked at her, and then looked away and just kind a shrugged, then sighed. "Yeah.. I'm okay I guess."

"Doesn't hurt any more?" "No.. its still sore I guess, but I'll be alright"

There was some relief, "That's good, Aizawa-sensei should let you be in the exercise tomorrow." Tsuyu said between bites, catching Alarice by surprise. Despite respecting the frog girl, Alarice hadn't said much to her, usually finding herself at a loss of words and the two would just share a friendly nod or greeting and be on their ways. Her ears felt a little tingle and she smiled against her will. "I hope so. I've felt pretty bad since Saturday night if I'm honest. I really wish everyone hadn't found out though."

"Well, don't feel bad about it." Momo beat Jiro to the response. "Things happen, its not your fault, or anything like that, its not like you went out seeking injury. Or can control the spread of gossip."

"I guess." She received a head pat for her response. "Okay your right." Alarice was rewarded with a small smile from Momo before she went back to finishing her lunch.

"Sorry everyone found out though." Jiro offered with a shrug of her own. "Admittedly it was kind of unusual, so it was hard not to get asked." Alarice just nodded to her response, Jiro didn't go around blabbing things after all.

"I'm not surprised I guess, and I think I know who told everyone anyway."

The conversation ended there, and moved onto other topics, which Alarice was grateful for, and listened to her friends talk away.

Kirishima surprised her between classes when there were few enough other students, to ask if he could see the stitches. Alarice flushing pink in her ears, stating she couldn't show him here, in the middle of the school. Though she did show him her bandaged side where the stitches were. Telling him the number she got as well of course. 21- 24 stitches to her side in total. She didn't mention that their English teacher had stayed with her so she wasn't alone the whole time. Ashido cleared herself of__being the one who said anything by giving her a gentle hug quietly later, though she did teasingly ask what it was like having her favorite hero stay with her at the hospital.

The day passed well, and she was given a pass on her extra-class that she usually had with Aizawa, since she was still healing and also had no suit. Alarice didn't mind she had some 'extra' training she was going to do on her own any way.

"Midoriya, please!" Alarice practically begged the green haired boy. She was desperate to do something.

"But your stitches!" He protested gesturing heavily, while sweating about the matter. "I don't want to be the reason you pop one or anything!"

"We wont!"

"What about your painkillers, doesn't your adaption affect that too? What if you run out because you had to take more than you have?! I don't want to be the cause of your pain either!"

"Maybe if I went full hound, but I wont! We're not even trying to fight, this is really important to me!" Alarice countered. "We were so close last time!" She was desperate and Midoriya could feel it in his bones. This was more emotion than most ever saw out of her.

The other teen let out a strangled noise of frustration, and then slumped. Alarice smiled, relieved. "'I'll meet you in the usual place, alright? And I'll bring extra pills with me just in case okay?" Midoriya just nodded, still uncertain.

Midoriya's choice of location had always been the same: one of the Gyms. At first, Alarice had wondered why he'd pick a gym for this, but as time had gone on, she found it better not to ask. When she got there, Midoriya was just wearing his basic gym clothes, an extra bag at his side. Alarice was just wearing basic clothes she was prepared might get destroyed in some way. She wasn't quite ready to destroy another pair of UA Gym clothes.

Trying to bring out and focus on only one part of her body was difficult. Midoriya had explained it had a reverse issue for him, and distribution was his solution. However he had, quicker than Alarice thought, put forward that he agreed that for her, methods of getting access to her abilities with reduced energy cost was a smart idea. The problem was getting there, she was so use to just going all the way to hound form that it was difficult for her to pick out a 'phase of the process'.

At Midoriya's insistence they were only going to focus on her senses, the ears or nose. Less risk of re-injury there. He tied a blindfold around her eyes to try to help the process.

"So... last time we got something with focusing on a body part, and visualizing... so we know its possible." Midoriya commented trying to figure out how they'd focus specifically on her ears. He should have brought something they could have used to focus hearing on. He couldn't think of anything specific, so he just parroted back what they had learned from last time. "See if you can focus on just your ears, like you did last time, just picturing your ears as your hound ears."

"Right." Alarice went quiet as she tried to focus, though she noted that her helper wasn't far from his own notebook, and was distracted by the skritch-skritch of pencil and paper. They had proved it last time, that it was possible even if it had weirdly just been her eyes, when they were making faces at each other for fun between attempts. Midoriya had shown her his 'All Might face' and she tried to copy him, with more fire-eye like results.

She tried to picture her ears as she knew they existed, being the ears of her hell-hound form, and focus on her hearing. It was an odd silence that became less as she felt her ears grow. She could tell they were getting furrier and bigger when the range of sound she was picking up changed, and changed significantly, and the sound of steps coming to them from the north while Midoriya was west of her. The foots steps where heavier than she expected from a classmate.

"Young Midoriy-"

The sound of a male's voice startled her, louder since she was trying to bring out her hell-hound ears and just them. In a second the blindfold, and all of her clothes were destroyed. Toshinori Yagi looked at the skull-faced hell-hound and she looked back at him before lowering herself to the floor and like a guilty dog put her paws over her face.

"AH! All Might sir!" Deku burst out, sweating and looking a little wide eyed having not expected to see his mentor. "What are you doing here?"

"I was coming to see how you were doing, but I see you are helping out another student!" Yagi's tone was booming despite his otherwise frail size. It was obvious the pride he had in Midoriya. Alarice thumped her tail and then kept it from doing that again.

"Uh yeah Stone asked me to help her out... we've been trying to see if we can do partial transformations... or just parts." Midoriya described while Alarice seemed to relax, its not like any one could see anything away. Fur and scale-like structures was protecting her and covering her up completely. Yagi nodded, understanding the problem more than Alarice would know. "Sounds like you two are working hard then, I'm sorry to have interrupted it... although didn't Young Stone just get back from the hospital?"

"OH. _YEAH_... Are you okay?!"

Alarice was glad they couldn't see how annoyed that made her but in a show of the level of flexibility she had she was able to check. Though her tail-hand came around to block any other views. She gave a curt nod back that her stitches were fine, albeit hidden under a scale or five. Did itch now that she'd looked at them though. Midoriya let out a breath of relief.

Another moment of awkward silence before Midoriya grabbed the bag he'd brought with, chucking it to Alarice and trying to push his mentor out of the room. "There's some extra clothes in there!" She caught it's handle gently between her jaws. She carried it over to a spot she could safely change. Though she could still hear them whispering and she respectfully decided to ignore it. Putting on what clothes were available in the bag since hers had been scattered around in in little shreds. Except the bra which had barely survived, but would work for now. Especially given that all she had now to wear was essentially boy's clothes.

In a moment's time, when Yagi and Midoriya had gotten whatever it was they needed to say out between each other, Alarice walked back around. Putting her hair back into a sort of pony tail. "Soo, are we in trouble, Yagi sir?"

"What? No! Of course not! Not from me any way!" He smiled, all teeth. Though the first time she'd met Yagi she had shamefully found herself a little intimidated, she'd managed to get over it. Picturing him more like an old giant dog. Skinny and all bone it seemed, but gentle and patient from a life's worth of working. It might have helped to know he was the very famous All Might, just retired and teaching at UA. She couldn't help but smile back (with teeth as well ) at him. "It seemed like for a moment there, you had what you two have been trying for."

"Yeah, we've sort of figured out a way to do it, but its hard to keep it there." Alarice confessed, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm not sure how to make it stay."

Yagi ruffled her hair gently. "Keep at it then, I'm sure you'll figure it out, especially with Young Midoriya's help." Midoriya also received the hair ruffle.

"Thanks... I guess its over with for today though." Alarice said quietly, nodding to Midoriya, "I'll bring you back your clothes tomorrow." "o-oh its not a big deal." "Well, good night Midoriya, Yagi" With her good-nights given out, she headed back to the dorms. She noticed as she walked up, one of her classmates sitting on the stairs.

"Stone, hey uh.." Kaminari said anxiously, standing up at her approach. A little confused as to what she was wearing but decided not to question it. "Stone, I wanted to apologize, I was the one who told everyone..."

Alarice looked at him, nodded, and followed through with a shrug. "It's okay, I think, I shouldn't have expected any one to not notice or anything like that."

"_It was really hard_ not to say anything! I mean we showed back up at the school in a dog grooming van!" Kaminari energy was coming right back apparently, clearly having been excited to tell her that. Alarice remembered the brief moment of her and Jiro's conversations they'd had earlier about the odd silences and concerns from her classmates. She came up the stairs and settled next to him, as he sat back down.

"Ah... Jiro said Midnight took you guys back to the school"

"She did! In a _Dog Grooming Van_!" His face seemed to light up a little, like this was a story he had some fun telling. Alarice couldn't help but smirk in return. "That's really weird."

"What's really weird is you'd think there would be more room in one of those!" He began to gesture actively about it. "Mineta had to sit on the table and hold himself to it with his little hair-balls." Alarice couldn't help but giggle a little bit. Kaminari continued to recount what all had happened with the group post the separation. Mineta's aforementioned unusual manner in which he had to ride. Jiro and Mina having to share a seat. The pair being concerned bout the blood and the groomer stating she 'knew how to get it out' in a ominous manner. The mother hen way Iida reacted, the possible intoxicated state of Midnight. Aizawa-sensei's angry concern and acceptance of the situation. The poor confused dog groomer who thought she was just going to have a good night, but had suddenly been made chauffeur for a group of high school kids and their drunk teacher. She was pretty sure he was exaggerating but it was really nice to listen to him tell and it clearly made him feel better.

Till they were shooed back into their dorm for curfew by their teacher , as Midoriya ran into the dorm ahead of them, though they kept conversation up once inside.

**(( Hey my doods, lemme know what you think so far of the fic, this pretty much closes 'Act 1' and There won't be an update next Monday, but there will be the Monday following, then a skip, then it should return barring any other time issues :V**

**Also let me know if there's any scenes in chapters 1-11 that you'd like to see drawn! :D **

**TLDR: Schedule: No Fic on the 1****st****, Yes fic the 8****th****, No Fic on the 15****th****. Then fic again. ))**


	12. The Bathman

Chapter 12

"That One Filler Episode: The Bathman"

It was a relief to get her suit, and with a spare on the way, into her hands. Even if she had to risk some of Aizawa's wrath, by avoiding Hatsume, to pick it up. Though she had told Midoriya that she still wanted to work with him in that extra gym time he had, she realized after the last visit that it was time approved by All Might, and that was why he had the space every evening.

Heading back to the dorms in a normal way, with other people, she overhead Kirishima as he ran over, pale as a white paper sheet, walking a little awkwardly as he tried to relax. Bakugo didn't question him, but Alarice wasn't the only one to notice that he was acting a little on the weird side.

Kirishima kept what he'd seen when he went to do a single good deed to himself, heading right up to his dorm room to wash his face and start forgetting as soon as possible. Except, there was a gentle knocking on his door as soon as he splashed water on his face. "Hang on!"

Mina was there, notably alone, when he opened the door. "Hey, you okay, Eijiro?"

The red headed boy paused for a second, before motioning for her to come in, "listen, Mina... I got something to tell you."

Mina nodded as she came in.

"I think...I um...saw something, in one of the general studies classrooms." He looked away, scratching the back of his head anxiously. Mina waited for him to finish explaining what 'something' was. "I don't...really know what it was but it...kinda looked like a student."

"Kinda looked like a student?"

"Yeah..."

He paused for a long moment, thinking about what to say next to her, "Mina I think I saw a ghost."

The pair shared a long quiet moment to let that sink in, before Kirishima could feel the light in Mina's darkened sclera. "That's so cool!"

"It wasn't as fun as I thought it would ever be to see one," Kirishima hanging his head down for a second; Mina's excitement grew. "It just kinda looked at me, but it looked short enough that it was maybe a student at one point..."

"Kirishima, do you know what this means?" Mina was still going strong on the energy of his revelation to her. He couldn't really blame her, and her energy was starting to get him to buck up about his encounter. The pair enjoyed watching the occasional ghost show, not intentionally together, but they started making it a thing to do since no one else seemed wildly interested in the shows. Still, seeing something like that was a lot scarier than he thought it would be.

"Our school has a ghost in it?"

"It means we get to go on a ghost hunt!"

"Except that it was in the main building, which gets locked at up at night, so we'd have to sneak in if we wanted to do a 'proper' ghost hunt, Mina." Kirishima pointed out, and her hand immediately went to her chin. She made a thoughtful noise.

"Yeah, and we don't have anything, except our phones, to do any kind of ghost hunting with..." she let out a slightly disappointed sigh and folded her arms over her chest again. Kirishima just gave her a slightly twisted frown, she noticed and apologized. "Sorry, it's just that this the first time we might get to do a ghost hunt."

Kirishima looked at his friend for a moment, prolonging the silence before finally smiling, and nodding. "I bet we could hang back a bit after class tomorrow and try. If you're serious, anyway"

"Of course, I'm serious!" Mina exclaimed, an excited, infectious smile on her face that Kirishima eventually imitated in full, shark-tooth glory.

The end of the school day had the pair of them making some excuse to Iida about some chore or what-not, before finding a space to hang back reasonably till they could sneak into the haunted classroom. Getting a confused look from the last general studies student they saw.

As the sky turned purple the pair, hiding in said classroom took out their phones, turning on the cameras to record any ghostly activity. Thumbs hovering just above the record button as they crouched.

"He was right there," Kirishima whispered, pointing to the desk right by the window, "maybe he'll re-appear right there again."

Mina nodded and waited in eerie silence for the apparition to re-appear. "Maybe we should try talking to it? You know, like for EVP stuff?" Mina suggested in a whisper.

"If there's anyone here, could you give us a sign?" Kirishima called, as loudly as he dared, into the rooms silence. Waiting made the air feel heavy, he felt himself and Mina try to quiet their breaths, straining for any sound in the room. They swept the phones over the room, trying to catch any sign of their prey, but nothing was there.

Kirishima swallowed hard.

Nothing.

Mina shifted, making her own plea,"We just want to know if you're there."

Still nothing, just the dull sound of the building around them as the air conditioning turned back on again.

Footsteps in the hall forced them to keep even more silent.

The sky was now becoming quite dark, and they'd have to leave soon, since they didn't have a plan for staying till dark in the school building. Not to mention, UA security would likely catch them.

Suddenly, the chair nearest them scooted forward, almost touching Mina's leg. The pink girl sucked in air like she'd been dropped into cold water suddenly. Kirishima felt like every hair on his body was suddenly standing straight up. Before either could say anything, they bolted from the room, forgetting playing it safe and high tailing back to the dorms.

Being stopped at the stairs by Sero who was coming in from a walk he'd taken. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised that you two are together huh?" He teased, flashing them a wide smile.

Kirishima frowned at Sero, Mina quickly hid any flush in her face, before countering first. "Don't be a pervert Sero! We weren't doing anything like that."

The other boy chuckled at her. Waving his hand at her casually as if to brush away the excuse. "Mhmm, sure. Well, I promise I won't tell, or anything like that. "

"She's right, we were uh..." Kirishima balked at the idea of admitting the truth of what they were doing, then decided it was better to admit the childishness then let Mina's honor take a hit, "We were ghost hunting."

Sero looked at them confused, then seemed to start to smirk again.

"We were! Look!" Mina hissed angrily, then tried to find her video on her phone, prompting Kirishima to vocally agree too, and pull up his phone video. The pair hastily pulling up the last videos they took.

"Mine didn't catch anything..." Kirishima said downcast, forgetting the accusations at the loss of no proof. Mina let out a noise of frustration. She'd barely caught the chair toward her leg. She thrust it at Sero regardless, who looked at the video wide eyed, as it was shoved into his face.

"Okay, okay, I was just teasing. That's... not great proof though," Sero's voice wavered a little. "Was that from 1-E's classroom?" his voice was lowered, as if he was trying to hide it. His frightened classmates looked at him as he let out a breath. "Follow me, I got stuff to help you guys out. If you want to try again at proving you weren't playing around in the school building."

Despite his teasing commentary and toothy grin, they let out sighs at him rather than fighting further about it. They followed Sero up to his room where he nervously pulled out a drawer, with a few devices in it that could only be described as 'ghost hunting gear'.

"Sero, you're into it too!?" Kirishima burst out, Sero put his hands out as if to quiet Kirishima's voice with open hands.

"Yeah, just a little, but I've also seen some weird stuff in 1-E's room." They nodded, and Sero continued. "We can use my gear, but I have to come with on the next hunt."

By the next night they were putting their new plan into action. As the three put themselves into position to wait until the right moment to begin the hunt for more ghost evidence from 1-E's room, another hunter found them, her voice making Mina start from the tension alone.

"Sorry." Alarice said, trying to look apologetic about spooking Mina, "but, what are you guys doing?"

There was a quick explanation, and their party had grown to four, and with the help of Alarice's sensitive nose, and sudden appearance of her hell-hound-ears over her normal ones, were able to successfully wait out robots and staff to begin their little ghost hunt. The four students settled into a little corner away from any tables or chairs, to avoid the same situation as last time.

"So...how does this work?" Alarice asked quietly, being answered in hushed tones by Mina as Kirishima decided again to take lead on asking for a presence's response. Which, again, was rewarded with dead silence. The little device to indicate electromagnetic energy was also dead and still in Sero's hands. They gave Alarice the recorder to handle for EVPs, since all she had to do was hold it and be quiet.

The long silence grew again into darkness. The students weren't worried about getting back out of the school for the moment, only about getting the tantalizing proof of a ghost to materialize.

Their eyes adjusted to the darkness, making it easy to notice a faint glow at one desk, forming the rough the shape of a person. The shifting color light flowing inwards to give the shape of a teenage boy more definition. He stood up, the hair on the backs of their necks standing up, it was so silent that they could hear a pin drop.

To their horror it looked at them, then made some gesture, and the door to the room opened. They were being ushered out or...?

Instead, a bedraggled mess of hair and black walked in silently. A book under one arm, his attention on the ghost, before... The four students of 1-A wanted to be invisible as their homeroom teacher looked at them with irritation in his dark eyes. "What do you think you are doing?"

The group stood up quickly, somewhat alarmed and concerned that their teacher couldn't see the ghost at all. It led to an awkward silence before Kirishima forced the thought on the kid's minds into the silence, "Sensei, there's a Ghost right there!"

"Ghosts aren't real." Aizawa's gravelly voice carried as he looked away from his students to hand the ghost student next to him a book. The ghost took it graciously. "Thank you, Aizawa."

The book was placed on a desk while the kids stared at the display in front of them. Before anyone could ask, said ghost explained themselves. "Ghost is my Quirk."

A moment of dead silence while that settled in "How can your quirk be 'ghost'?" Alarice asked, trying to be polite about her question.

Seeing how this was going to be an irrational, but almost unavoidable conversation, Aizawa let out a sigh, and settled himself against a wall. Any attempt to stop this would probably end up dragging it out.

"That's... just what we call it. No one else has it, I as far as I know." He nodded knowingly. "My name is Hisato Hirai" He even gave a little bow. "It's nice to meet you. I tried not scare you guys, but it just kind of happens, I guess."

The students introduced themselves to Hisato, but were clearly still a little confused and maybe bothered. "I don't understand, how is your quirk ghost..,are you just..,ghostly looking or are you...?"

"Oh, I'm dead, yeah," He gave a shrug. "Legally, anyway." Which didn't alleviate the concerns.

"So, how did..." "I fell in the bathtub and drowned."

Mina and Sero stared with a combo of pity and disturbance at their new 'ghost friend' who was very blasé about the manner of their own life's ending. Alarice, who had tried to ask how, was back to her stone faced routine, unsure of how to react in the face such treatment of mortality. Kirishima was unbothered, or at least, didn't let himself seem like it. "So...that happened, and then you came back to school? I don't get it."

"Hah, at first, neither did I!" The ghost boy, Hisato, smiled a big smile at that. "It made sense as time went on, see, I knew something had happened, I remember feeling the pain, and then it felt really wrong, then, nothin! I felt lighter than air. My whole body the moment of death changed, and I woke back up and went right on to school. Didn't want to be late, you know? That was a really rough day, I'll tell you that!"

He seemed genuinely not bothered by the fact it had happened at all. He paused for a second, looking at the kids then to the ground. "I mean…I feel bad for my mom and dad, but I know they made peace with it in the end."

"You just…went on?" Kirishima asked, curious to know more about this rather morbid story.

"Well yeah, I had no idea what had really happened, I figured it out eventually, of course, you can only try to be called on so many times in class before you realize it. Or, when you go home, and your parents don't react to you."

"Dude…I'm so sorry, Hisato." Sero commented, looking genuinely sad for the ghost-boy, Mina nodded.

"Don't be." Hisato said, with a shrug. "That was at least 20 years ago."

"You've been in the school for 20 years?!" the kids burst out, except for Alarice who noticed Aizawa looking at them with an expression she couldn't decode.

"Well, yeah, If I was going to figure out how to live as a ghost, what better place than a school that trains heroes to use their quirks to their fullest? I was already a general studies student here, anyway." The ghost said with a big shrug. "Plus, it's not like any one could stop me, it is kinda cute that I'm considered a 'good luck' spirit, and I appreciate being kept on the roster." He chuckled a slightly disturbing laugh at the commentary. He noticed the kids talking to themselves and nodding.

"We have one more question Hisato, does anyone else know you're here?" Mina asked.

Hisato scratched the back of his ghostly head and made a face as he sort of seemed unsure of how to answer. "Well…yes and no. Principal Nezu knows, and Aizawa knows…and sometimes a student notices but…it's a bit of effort to get noticed, either because of my quirk, or that ghosts simply don't exist to most people, so they don't pay attention to me. Every so often a kid notices, and then decides not to tell anyone. I don't really like to let people notice me these days... you kids seemed like good kids though, and it was nice that you were trying to get that kid his ID back, Kirishima."

Kirishima smiled wildly with all teeth. "Did he get it back? "

"Oh yeah, I put it on his desk after you dropped it."

"It takes a lot of effort to be visible?" Sero asked this time, changing the subject from the Lost ID back to what was really interesting.

"Used to," Hisato said with another casual ghost shrug. "Doesn't anymore, I mean, the first person I really managed to appear to was Aizawa." The ghost smiled as a hint of humor invaded his tone. "He just looked at me then kept walking, and his blond friend just kept going on talking, and telling him to sleep more!"

"If Aizawa looks at you with his quirk, would that..." "That's what I tried the second time I saw Hisato." Aizawa grumbled, almost giving a look to the ghost who, looked embarrassed, cutting off Alarice's question. "He just vanished, and came back the next day, that's how I knew it was the result of a Quirk, not a ghost."

"That indeed! I have to admit, you gave me such a fright when you did that Aizawa! I'm glad you've never done it again to me." Aizawa nodded to him, before looking disinterested again in the matter. Sadly, the topic was now firmly focused on him and Hisato's history.

"What was Aizawa like as a kid?" Mina couldn't help but ask, even though her teacher was right there.

"Short." The ghost said with a calm smile. Aizawa rolled his eyes.

"What was he like?" Slipped out of Alarice's mouth, and immediately her ears began to burn.

"Quiet. Thoughtful." Hisato smiled. "In his own way."

"So it's just…Aizawa and Nezu?" Sero asked, steering the conversation away from his teacher as a teenager. Not that he didn't have plenty of questions himself.

"Pretty much. Nezu's high specs found me out pretty quickly, and he was pretty sympathetic to my situation. Since I can't be killed again, and I don't really use-up any resources, I'm completely allowed to stay as long as I don't cause trouble." Hisato gave another, casual as could be, shrug.

"Yeah but…20 years in school the whole time... that seems kinda boring." Mina uttered trying to keep her voice down a little bit. As much as she did love her hero classes, and learning to be the best hero possible, it was also true that she didn't want to stay here forever.

"As boring as it seems... I actually really like it. No one bothers me when I study any more, I can read for as long as I like because I don't need to eat, and sometimes I help other people without having to deal with their attention." His hands came together, and he became very thoughtful, his voice lowering, "and since Aizawa started teaching here himself, I've been learning more with this quirk, and maybe I'll be able to really help people around here, too."

The ghost seemed to flicker as he seemed to become disinterested in continuing to converse with the kids. He picked up the book and it practically seemed to float in midair, rather than be in his hands. "Aizawa, thank you for the book, I'll get it back to you when I've finished it."

Sleepy-eyed Aizawa nodded wordlessly to Hisato, who, book and all, alarmingly just vanished. Only to pop back into existence quickly, "oh, have a good night kids," and back out he went, to wherever his quirk allowed him to go.

Aizawa ushered his collected small flock of 4 out of the room, and out of the main UA building. The kids attempted to question him next, of course.

"Aizawa-Sensei, you know a ghost!" Mina seemed excited about it, now that the ghost wasn't in her presence. "What is it like having a ghost for a friend?"

"He's not a ghost."

Alarice remained silent, pondering personally about the nature of the friendship he hadn't denied having with a ghost. It had to be weird growing into an adult while the person next to you never aged.

"Does he feel anything? Like is he like an actual ghost-ghost?" Kirishima was next to ask, also excited, now that there wasn't an actual dead child talking to them

"That's a question for Hisato, not for me." Aizawa responded, increasingly tired of being questioned.

"Where did he go? Is there a ghost realm he goes too?" Mina asked, thinking about the sudden and distressing way he had just vanished from their view.

"I wouldn't know."

The student to teacher interrogation continued as they walked, with Aizawa deflecting most of it. When they got to their dorm, he shooed them to bed and headed off towards the teacher's housing for his own sleep. Listening to the kids exchange thoughts of the ghost kid and even of how he factored into that. Keeping that Cheshire smile to himself as he heard them talk about asking others about it, knowing full well that no one would believe them.


	13. The Unicorn and the Hell hound

**(( Hey guys! I'm back haha!~ SO! At this point we will be getting into possible/light spoiler territory for Anime only people! Nothing explicit, as I've been trying to keep it light on that and avoid re-hashing events that have all-ready occurred in the manga! **

**Just putting out that warning, that some character reveals may be spoiled. ))**

* * *

Chapter 13

"The Unicorn and the Hell-hound"

Extra-training had resumed, but Alarice was off the hook today, having been invited to go with some of the other kids to a small festival that was in town. She had barely asked when Aizawa had just said fine and shooed her away. Now that she had time to kill, she spent it thinking about her classmates, and things she needed to work on.

There was still the small matter of a Super Move to be resolved: She didn't _really_ have one. Alarice had some ideas of what to pursue now that she had real progress on partial transformations, even shown just a bit of it off while working in extra-training, with Shinso of course. Still...most of her classmates had one, and she could feel Aizawa was expecting her to have one soon.

There was the other matter of her 'approach' ability. Admittedly, she wasn't sure on how kids, non-hero trained kids, would ever react to her, but she knew how adults tended too. She tried to picture herself, as she shifted for practicing purposes, into her hell-hound shape, as just another big dog. Pawing gently at a dandelion since she really didn't have any one to practice on. Practicing a gentle touch on a flower in the grass would have to do.

As Alarice lamented not having a real partner to practice this on, she noticed movement to her left. Looking over, she and a small child with white hair locked eyes. As they stared at each other in mutual confusion, another older teen walked up next to them. His dark, oval eyes and button nose made him look cute. Either way, now he was looking at her, too.

As Alarice was considering dropping her form, so as to not scare the kid, the young girl started talking. She could hear her, but only faintly, especially compared to the older teen. "She looks like a big dog, doesn't she?" she heard the teen boy say, his voice sounding warm and fun.

Alarice's ears flicked up and she found herself falling into line, acting... well like a dog. "Really big." She heard the kid say in agreement as they moved closer.

"You must be Stone, 1-A's Transfer." Alarice gave a nodd. "Mirio Togata, this is Eri. I'm kind of surprised we haven't run into each other yet!" She cocked her head to the side and let her ears 'flop' a little. The feeling was not mutual, she had no idea who he was, or why UA had a small child on its campus grounds. Maybe she had been too distracted with her own affairs to notice, or ask, at an earlier time.

Her attention was pulled back to Eri, who was giving her a wide-eyed look that Alarice couldn't place. Her tail shifted the grass as she looked back the kid, before lowering her head down to the ground, to seem less towering. "You're really big."

Alarice just snorted, or something like a snort any way. The Hound gave a look back at Mirio, and his very likable face. "She's like my little sis, but we aren't related if that's what you're asking."

She threw her head to the side in a kind of acceptance, shifting a little in the grass, unconsciously aware that she was pulling off the 'giant dog near a small thing' look.

"She's got a thing on her back" Eri commented quietly, pointing, and looking at Mirio to come over and look with her. Which he did, and nodded. "She does. I take it it's so you can carry people on your back?" Alarice wanted to tell him yes and that she hadn't tried it yet, however Eri looked so interested in her in this form, she just couldn't. He seemed to get it anyway, nodding knowingly.

Eri seemed content with cautiously reaching out, and after looking between Mirio and Alarice, watching her ears flick, before patting the scales on her side. Alarice barely felt it, and then remembered she had a hand on the end of her tail. She pointed and gestured her to back, if the kiddo wanted a ride.

"She's offering to carry you; do you want to go for a ride?" Mirio put the question to Eri, who didn't seem to know what she thought of.

She gave a nervous nod, before taking a hold of his shirt and realizing that Alarice was sentient enough, asked, "Can...Mirio ride, too?"

He was comically pointing to himself to emphasis the question. He seemed willing to give it a go, and despite looking kind of bulky, Alarice was pretty sure she could carry both. She gave a nod of approval.

With that Mirio scooped Eri up easily and got up close. "See that handle, Eri? Grab on to it." The little girl did as she was told and held on tight as Mirio put her up. The space forcarrying passengers was padded, and relatively comfortable. The young man pulled himself up next, with physical ease and settling himself so he could make sure Eri stayed on Alarice's back. She looked to her back to make sure they were fine. Mirio giving her a thumbs up and Eri adorably mirroring the motion. She stood up carefully, focusing on keeping the weight on her back from shifting. Standing all the way up, before beginning to move.

"Think you can carry us all the way to the Gardens?" Mirio called, amused as one ear flicked towards him, and then back before she gave a nod. Eri was at least a bit excited, and in all fairness, this was as close as she'd ever gotten to getting to ride an animal. Even if it was actually a lower-classman, and a human with a quirk. Mirio wasn't bothered in the slightest. He'd give an excuse to whatever teacher stopped them, if they were stopped.

Alarice was surprised, and yet, not, as their weight eventually didn't feel like much at all. Perhaps her Adaption was doing its thing again? After her entire life almost never paying attention that acutely to her quirk, now she was, and things were very noticeable. Or maybe she was getting used to their weight.

A familiar face stopped her in her tracks. She couldn't help that she was staring down at her homeroom teacher, and how weird that felt.

"Heya, Aizawa!" Mirio waved down at him in a friendly manner. A small hi from Eri followed his louder one. "Alarice is given' us a ride, we were heading to meet you!"

Aizawa was quiet for a moment, looking at his student, looking at his…adopted child and Mirio waving emphatically. "I can see that." Alarice's ears lowered for a second.

"You wanna come on up? I bet she could carry another person!"

"No." Aizawa just turned and walked, Alarice following him since he was apparently going where she was taking Mirio and Eri. She followed behind him to avoid jostling her riders. That was, of course, until she caught a whiff of her teacher's scent and she moved to walk beside him. Some people, naturally, had particularly strong or unique 'scents'. He was one of them for sure, and it wasn't a thought Alarice wanted to dwell on.

It was a quiet walk, where she only spared one glance at her teacher, and upon seeing that he was looking back at her she kept her eyes forward. Did he know!? They made it to the gardens in no time, laying down to let off her passengers. Eri giving her a polite bow that Alarice imitated, before changing back to her human self.

"Your welcome, Eri." Alarice said calmly, she noted the kid's eyes going to her hair. The little one didn't say anything, running over to Mirio and Aizawa before wandering away, but within eyesight.

"Hey, you did pretty good there, Stone!" Mirio patted her shoulder, and she looked at him, a little startled. "Uh…thank you, I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable?"

"Nope! It was just like riding a scaly horse!"

Alarice didn't have much response for that. She confusedly watched Aizawa and Mirio talk to each other following that exchange, seeing Eri run back to them, carrying a leaf that looked like a cat head. Handing it to Aizawa, who to Alarice's even bigger surprise, handled the leaf gift gently. Even patting the small child on the head. When she ran off again, the question just kind of rolled out Alarice's mouth.

"Aizawa...are you her dad?"

Aizawa looked towards his student, perplexed as to why she would think that. Mirio put a hand to cover his mouth, he was definitely smiling and trying not to laugh. Alarice felt like she was going to turn to stone under that gaze. "I mean…it just…kinda...looks like you're her dad…that's all."

More silence. More staring. Double the confusion.

"You're not her dad?"

"I'm her caretaker, for now." He was her _foster_ dad. He sighed and re-adjusted himself just a tad on the bench. "She's in a situation where she's under UA's care, Mirio helps."

"Oh! Well she's very sweet... I thought she'd be scared of me, but she wasn't."

Mirio smiled broadly, hand pulled away now, though the smile remained on his face. "Yup, Aizawa is a busy man, I heard he was giving you extra-classes, that's why I was surprised we hadn't met yet."

"There was no reason for you two to meet Stone." Aizawa mumbled. The conversation paused as the little white-haired girl came back. Arms full of flowers, some a little crushed. While Eri showed Mirio her recently collected wild flowers, Alarice decided it might be time to head back so she could change. "Well…um…I should go I think, I was going to go with Uraraka and them to a little festival...thing."

Aizawa just nodded, but Eri looked up quickly and despite clinging to Mirio again, urged her to stay, "wait!"

She waited, the small child pausing for a moment before trundling over, flowers still in her arms. Alarice crouched down to make conversation easier, without even thinking about it. "Flowers, for you. 'Cuz you were a good horsie-dog." Eri said, sweet as could be.

Alarice's face screwed up as she tried to figure out how to respond to being called a horsie-dog, and also being offered flowers. She took the first one, and heard Mirio put his thoughts in. "Ohhh, like that picture book we were looking at where the carriage horses had flowers in their manes." Eri nodded to him.

Upon hearing this, Alarice stuck the first one into her long braid. Eri continued to offer her flowers for her hair after that, one after the other that were placed into her braid. Eri putting the last few into her braid for her. Aizawa just stared at them, before remembering his poor dried out eyes.

"Wwwwwwwwwhat is goin' on out here?" A louder voice that demanded attention announced itself from the other side of the walkway. Present Mic found his way over to the group, as Eri and Alarice put the second to last flower that would fit into her hair. Alarice, taking the very last flower, since it didn't fit in the braids, and put it in Eri's hair. "Oh my gosh, we're playing with flowers again, huh?"

Mic was a bit surprised to see Stone there, but he brushed it off, she lived on campus like the rest of them. "Hey, Mic." "Mirio-listener." The two high-fived, while Eri ran up, clearly unafraid of him, too.

She threw her arms into the air, dramatically imitating him, and both Mirio and Mic did the same, while she let out a little 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah' at him. Mic doing a surprisingly very soft imitation of her quiet little 'ah'. The whole scene was so ridiculously cute. Aizawa was watching, but his face was hidden from Alarice's view.

"So, what have we got here, Eri?" Mic asked the kid quietly, mindful of his volume around a smaller human, walking over to inspect the girl's handiwork on the flowered braid.

"I was putting flowers into Stone's hair." Eri answered, pointing to Alarice.

Alarice stood there little awkward, probably because she hadn't expected to see her scary homeroom teacher in what would be considered a 'family scene'. Seeing Mic just added in more emotions. "She's ready for a parade, that's for sure. How are _you_ doing, Listener?"

"Better, I have some cool scars now I guess." She shrugged a little, a touch of pink on her cheeks. It wasn't fair that it was so hard to talk about anything music related at 'school'. "I tried finding one of the groups you mentioned, and I can't recall their name... like…**crisis? Christian?**"

"**Christine**!" Mic remembered, nodding. "Decided to search up some of the artists I suggested huh, Listener?"

"Yeah, thank you, I don't know why I couldn't remember the name." A phone appeared in her hands and she began to note that down so she wouldn't forget again.

"Same name as the American Killer Car movie." Mic said with some enthusiasm. "Have you ever seen it, Listener?"

"No, I don't think so... have you?" Alarice questioned, putting the phone back in her pocket.

"NOPE! Never have!" Mic just smiled extra broadly. There was a rough sound of Aizawa clearing his throat to get Alarice's attention. "Weren't you going to the go with Uraraka and them to that traveling carnival?"

"OH RIGHT. Uh, it was very nice to meet you, Mirio, Eri." She gave a nearly respectful half bow to her new friends, before bolting off. Barely catching the sight of Eri and Mirio waving in tandem, which she gave a short wave back. Forgetting to say anything to her teachers in the sudden embarrassed rush to get back to her friends.

"Aaand off she goes. She'd make a good racer, for a Cryptid-pup." Mic's lips turning his toothy grin into an impish one.

"Don't care." Aizawa growled from the bench, not bothering to readjust himself out of the slouch. "And don't call her a Cryptid, Mic. Or a Pup."

Mic smiled mischievously back at him, clearly not really listening to him. Mirio looked a little puzzled about what they were talking about, and Eri was the one to ask vocally. "What's a cryptid?"

Aizawa regretted immediately not having his sleeping bag. He satisfied himself by just laying down the bench completely, as Mic smiled widely and immediately began to tell the kid all about what a Cryptid was. Then, since he still had Mirio's ears, followed up with the recounting tale about the Cryptid hunt of 1-A, and, of course explained that Alarice wasn't a monster. She was just a little shy, like Eri was. Mic just seemed to go on forever, but it was less than a half hour before Mirio waved goodbye to the teachers, leaving Eri with Mic and Eraser for the rest of the day.


	14. Don't hug me Uraraka, I'm scared

Chapter 14

"Don't hug me Uraraka, I'm scared."

Having changed her clothes to more fun attire. Alarice barely managed to catch up to the party of teens. Consisting of Uraraka, Tsuyu, Midoriya, Tokoyami, and Iida. Letting out a sigh of relief upon catching up to them. She'd exchanged her greetings and that was fine with her, quiet nods when it came to Tokoyami. A little surprised that they had joined but didn't voice it.

"So what's with the flowers?" Midoriya asked, noticing that she had flowers in her braid still. Something Alarice had been careful to leave in when she had changed.

"This little girl, Eri gave them to me." Alarice answered with a smile. Though she wasn't sure it was okay with the surprised look he gave her. Then the tiny sparkle that said it was fine.

"You got to meet Eri? How is she doing?" Midoriya asked.

"Yeah, she kinda met me actually, and uh... she seemed like a kid? She was cute kid." Alarice offered with a nervous shrug. Midoriya seemed satisfied with that answer, though she couldn't help but continue "I also met this boy, Mirio, at the same time... and got to try out that new modification for my suit."

Alarice couldn't help the heat in her cheeks at being the pseudo center of attention. "I heard you got a modification made, what kind did have added?" Uraraka asked, curious as to what that meant.

"Yeah, I mean, that wasn't what I was testing, I was actually just... thinkin about my approach-ability, since I've got such a scary face. I just kind of met them by accident I guess, and she wanted to ride so I ended up carrying both of them. " Alarice answered, flushing a little, but not only a little. "I guess everyone else has probably met them since Aizawa-Sensei is her foster dad." 

There was a pause and then at least one snort, before there was laughter and a giggle. Todoroki gave nothing at this comment, and she was pretty sure the snort came from Tokoyami. "What? He said he was her 'caretaker', that's a foster parent." Alarice argued, a little confused about the reaction.

There was a little hand wave from Uraraka who was more willing than the rest to answer that. "You aren't wrong, I just hadn't thought of it like that."

"Same, you usually see her with Mirio." Asui added, a gentle smile on her face too. "You asked Aizawa-sensei if he was her foster dad didn't you?"

"I did. Then he just stared at me, and then admitted he was her caretaker, which is a_ foster dad! _" Alarice answered. Slightly prepared for the further giggles, as her classmates tried to picture their stern, sleeping bag toting, always rational teacher as a 'parent'. He was a Hero who had more than proved his dedication to such a role, but seeing him as a Dad however, was still un-imaginable to his students.

Midoriya with a silly smile still on his face decided to clarify a little. "He is _technically_ her caretaker, but the school itself is kind of her home."

"oooh. Why's that?" Alarice asked, curious as to why an entire school would be the kid's home. Midoriya paused, thinking about how to answer that question.

"She's just in a complicated situation." Uraraka answered for him. Alarice didn't pry, just nodded.

"Well, she seems like a sweet kid." Alarice said, fiddling with one of the flowers in her braid, and letting the subject drop. Drifting back to talk to Tokoyami a bit, since they didn't often talk at all, both being pretty silent and dark-clad hero students.

Walking to the little traveling carnival was a brief affair, and it wasn't very big either. Though its crowning pride seemed to be a beautiful and tall Ferris wheel. The crowd was decent sized and the sound cheery and welcoming.

Alarice was quiet, not sure what to do in this type of crowd of people, more suited for the dark and heavy beats of dance floors than chipper crowds of parents and kids. Most of the little stalls looked like games of some kind or another, with prizes of various varieties, and a few were definitely food and drink stalls. She kept quiet around the group, observing the area around them.

"So what do we do first?" one of the teens asked, since they wanted to largely stay together as a group. Their little group walking further in and examining the various things around them they could do.

"How about a ride first? They've got Teacups." Uraraka suggested, gesturing over to the giant people sized teacups, that spun in their locations and also around a platform. Alarice looked both confused, and childishly amused. Uraraka noticed how out of place Alarice looked, like..

"Stone have you never been to Carnival before?" Midoriya called her out on it first, causing the dark haired teen's ears to turn pink. She grabbed her hair before it be could picked up by a sudden gust of wind before she answered.

"I've seen them... but I never went to one." Alarice sounded like she admitting to some great terrible thing by having never been to one carnival before. She stopped her classmates before they could say anything else. "Its not that weird."

"Its my second time at a place like this, Stone, the teacups are something to be experienced." Tokoyami spoke up, Stone noticing Iida's suddenly stiff face that seemed like a concentrated amount of conflict about the ride. Or was it about what Tokoyami had said? "There's a disc inside and you spin it, which makes your vessel spin faster on its own."

"oh."

"It can be quite intense. It is also quite fun." He added, as the group had clearly decided that they were going to start with Teacups. A basic, simple ride. Two person to a cup, with Tsuyu and Uraraka in one, Midoriya and Iida in another, and Alarice and Tokoyami in the last.

Alarice hadn't expected it to become a competitive spinning event. Sort of. There were three cups to a larger disk, so all of the students were on a 'plate' of their own. Iida and Midoriya were almost horrified as the girls and Tokoyami and Stone were intensely spinning themselves. Making a lot of noise as they did so, it was hard to tell whose squeaking was coming from which cup or even which person.

By the end neither of the four could stand completely straight or walk a straight line so they found themselves on a bench. Tokoyami seemed amused but it was impossible to tell for sure with that avian face of his. Alarice was flushed but laughing, full smile with teeth while Iida gave a gentle scolding as class president that they didn't need to compete with spinning Teacups! Tsuyu and Uraraka were also hiding mischievous grins, clearly just as pleased with themselves.

"Games. We should definitely do Games next." Alarice said with a big breath, sitting up on the bench.

"Indeed, with this much competitive energy, some games of strength and skill would be beneficial." Tokoyami added on , Tsuyu nodded in agreement.

"They have quite a lot of games here, ribbit." Tsuyu looked about them, from the bench, neither of the 4 intense teacup spinners were standing up just yet. "Where could we start were all of us could play?"

"Archery range?" one of them offered.

"There's also ball tossing..." Midoriya started, and then followed with "but that's kind of the same thing isn't it... just one is with bows and the other with balls..."

As he began to mumble more and Alarice slumped further into the bench, looking around and enjoying this time to be lazy and silly, she noticed a tallish structure, in a spot for a booth, and man shouting challenges for people to try to their strength. She noticed the prizes too. "What about that game?"

"Ah the classic strong-man Challenge! An Excellent choice for us!" Iida commented, ready to lead the group, though Alarice noticed that Midoriya was also now paying attention to what was on display at the booth, Plush dolls: Of Heros.

Alarice and Midoriya, were almost the first two over to it.

"A group of teenagers come to try their hand at the test of strength huh? Which one of you is going first then? Hmm? Only a Token per play!" The man was small but thick and held the special hammer in his hands as He stood proudly by his machine. "How about you!"

He pointed aggressively at Iida who nodded suddenly very serious. Handing over one Token and taking the Hammer from him. Alarice Stone watched him, as they gave Iida enough room to swing safely, as Iida slammed the hammer down hard on the cushioned pad, and the little weight jumping right up into the air but coming just short of the bell. "ahhhh too bad, but good swing young man!" cried the stall runner. "What of you, my Avian Fellow? Can you best this big boy here?"

Tokoyami was only a little hesitant, it was more Iida who seemed bothered by being referred to as a 'big boy'. Tokoyami traded coin for Hammer as well and took a good swing, also, coming just shy of the bell. Now the kids were getting suspicious. "Alright alright, which one of you -"

"Me!" Alarice cut the man off.

"Alright young lady, if that's what you want." He said, almost as if it was a joke, though Stone noted he put that joke away when she took off her long sleeved sweater. The shirt beneath wasn't short sleeved, rather the sleeves were comfortably tight over her muscled arms. "Never-mind, see if you can knock these boys out of the water." He gave her the Hammer and she looked over at the row of obnoxiously cute plush dolls on the prize rack. She took her swing, bringing the hammer down as hard as she could.

The Bell rang.

"Congratulations, young Lady w-" "The Present Mic one."

Alarice felt her whole face start to burn up, and she knew she hadn't moved from her position, still even holding the hammer in her hands. The short man just chuckled at her, getting her the prize and handing over the ridiculous looking plush doll to her. Alarice knew her face was all red but this was the first time she'd even seen a Present Mic Plush and it was hers. She had to grab her hair after an extreme gust of wind nearly sent it slapping into Tokoyami's face when she he gave her back her sweater. A few flowers were lost from the braid on top of it.

Midoriya's enthusiasm was not unlike her own, and like her, his determination to get his own plush, a certain all might one, carried his swing to the bell. Though Stone noted, he was a lot more polite about asking for his Prize then she'd been. After Midoriya, Uraraka took a swing, coming just shy of it as Iida and Tokoyami had, and Tsuyu managed to hit the bell too, claiming a little cute frog plush she intended to give to her siblings.

The Teens hit a few more booths of games, Tokoyami managing to trounce them in the ring toss game, when Alarice realized something vital was missing from her pocket. Not wanting to disrupt their competition between each other, she quietly set off for the the lost 'n' found. If she couldn't find her wallet then, she'd have to tell them. Without her wallet, she didn't have her ID for UA, and that meant she couldn't get back onto the grounds.

Part way into describing her admittedly bland wallet there was a soft tap on her shoulder.

"I think this is yours?" A young woman with red around her eyes offered the dark leather wallet back to Alarice.

"Yes! It is! Thank you for finding it!" Alarice knew she was louder than she had intended to be when she responded, but she was simply to excited to know it was back in her hands and safe. "where was it?"

"Oh it was just on the ground in front of one of the stalls, I'm glad I could return it to you. I'm Mar-" Before the red-around eyes woman could finish talking, her compatriot had caught site of the doll under Alarice's arm, and began laughing. She glared at her companion but the other took a good while to stop laughing. Alarice was very unsure of what to do, would be okay if she just walked away this point and didn't say anything else?

"Well i'm sorry about that, I was just going to say my name was Mar, and I'm glad I was able to get you back your wallet." Mar finished, still glaring at the other who was still smirking but finally had managed to stop laughing. "This is Gale, who is going to apologize for laughing at you."

Gale didn't seem all that keen to do so, she wiped at her face. "yeah yeah, sorry for laughing, that's just the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. That guy is ridiculously vain, any one can clock that guy as a dude who only cares about himself a mile away. Even manages to make school announcements about himself."

"Gale!"

"What, am I wrong?" Gale said with a shoulder shrug, even daring to look at Alarice as if she was at all going to back her up. "Like, he's totally that guy who only has to take care of the kids cuz it'll look bad for him as a hero if he doesn't, right?"

"No." Alarice said, cutting Mar off form chastising the other again. "He's not that way at all. He's a good person, He takes care of the people around him."

"Oh god of course. The doll, it all makes sense now!" Gale commented, acting as if nauseated. "Should have Known, only a delusional fan would defend such a joke of a Hero. Kid grow up, hero's like that are only heros for the freedom of using their quirk for attention."

Alarice didn't say anything to that, just glaring harder at Gale, eyebrows lowering. In her Peripheral visions he noted that the young man at the counter of lost and found didn't look all that comfortable with what was transpiring either.

"So, kid, what did he ever do for you, that makes you so protective?"

"That's none of your business."

"Alright, whatever. " Gale said with a shoulder shrug. "Good luck with Idolizing a complete asshole, kid." Gale's arm was grabbed by Mar. "right right, Sorry. "

"I apologize for my friend, she's not very tactful." Mar said with a glare for Gale. "Please, have a good day in spite of her... ? "

"Ariel." Alarice said coldly. "Bye."

Alarice turned on her heel, and headed quickly back to her friends, Tucking the plush doll a little further under her sweater and arm so that she wouldn't get stopped again just to be mocked for the stupid toy. Shoving feelings and memories from home back down as fast as possible. She was mostly successful when she heard her name being called.

"Stone! There you are!" Iida called, waving at her as the group and Alarice met together. "Where did you go? You don't have to pull a vanishing act all the time you know, especially when we're out and around as a group."

Alarice found the mild scolding tolerable compared to the earlier interaction. "Sorry, I had lost my wallet so I went back, some one found it though." She held up her lost wallet, and realizing she hadn't even checked to see if everything was all there, opened it. Her eyes widened and she let out a irritated sigh. "My ID is gone."

"What?!" Iida exclaimed, "Do you think maybe some one took it?"

"Maybe it fell out too." Uraraka commented trying to be reasonable. "But its not impossible?"

"I hope it just fell out... I don't even know where the people who gave it to me went now." Alarice said, looking both scared and crestfallen all at the same time. "Well... we can solve that when we get back to UA, I'm sure."

"Yeah.." Uraraka said quietly as Alarice sighed again, and put the wallet away again. "One more ride then?"

"They only have the two others.. " Asui stated plainly, gesturing to their options being a Merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel. "How about the Ferris wheel, when we get off, we can check and see if any one turned in the ID specifically."

"That's a good idea, not like I know where it fell out in the first place..." Alarice said with a big shrug. Following behind her classmates to the giant Ferris wheel. The girls all took one basket, and the boys were in another together. As they went around it was nice to see Musutafu.. or well, part of it, from the top. She hadn't actually spent that much time in the citiy that the Academy was nestled in. Then again, she hadn't even come here for tourism to begin with.

The Ferris wheel ride over, the kids headed back to the school grounds. Alarice waiting a bit outside the gate with Midoriya while the other kids went in ahead, to let the school know Alarice had lost her ID. Which was an awkward affair of hound-dog coming out and giving her a huge sniff of his own. Before confirming that she indeed, smelled like Alarice Stone, and was walked in.

She dropped a text to her father following, and another to Prometheus, including a picture of said ridiculous plush she had won. Though as she got up to her dorm, the teasing which she knew better than to let get to her, did.

She flopped onto her bed, another of the few flowers that remained flew out of her hair. Landing limp and sad on her Pillow next to her. She put her little plush to the side of her, and looked up at the retro poster of Present Mic, his first appearance that had been heavily used in merchandise. Then the rest of the few bits of merch she owned, the headphones, an old t-shirt, now a small cute plush. It was nice for her to be able to see it in proper light, not hoarded away where some one else couldn't see them.

"You're not an asshole, right?" Alarice said to the air around her. Drumming her fingers on her phone's signed case. "You didn't just stay with me cuz it would look bad if you didn't, right?"

A poster couldn't answer, so she was alone with her thoughts. Why did the idea that he only did what he did to keep up an image hurt her? It wasn't even that unusual with Heros, it was very common. Sunshine was like that a lot too. Sunshine wasn't like her mom or anything, she just did what was expected of her. As she ruminated on these thoughts, tears escaped at the idea she might mean nothing to her favorite hero too. If all his concern after her injury post his show, had only been like how Sunshine took care of her, what difference did it make? Sunshine was like that too.

Stone must have been more tired than she thought, since she didn't remember when she fell asleep on her bed.


	15. The Nutcracker

Chapter 15

"The Nutcracker"

She'd slept badly, probably because she'd tried to sleep in blue jeans. Either way, class was going about as well as it could. She felt less talkative than normal, which, given that she wasn't very talkative to begin with, it wasn't really noticed.

She pushed thoughts of her previous day out of her mind as she waited, heart beating into her throat with anticipation for the 'other half' of her team. Something of a relay race. It was being done in the cityscape setting of the training grounds, and being run by All Might, or rather since he was retired, teaching with some assistance. This time with Cementoss. She eyed the area around her, she could sort of see a few of her classmates, waiting, like her, tension rising.

The class had roughly been divided into half, but with Alarice's presence kind of ruining that, there had to be a slight adjustment. The adjustment felt ever so silly, but, she had to nod that it did make sense given Iida's quirk: Engine, that he do the race alone. There'd be a robot for him to 'exchange' with, technically. Iida didn't seem to mind, it was a race after all, any one teamed up with him would have a massive upper hand. Hell, he'd probably still win in the end.. depending on what other things might be thrown in specifically his way.

The same could be said of the rest of the class however. There was a pervasive thought amongst the group that since no one had said they couldn't play dirty, it wasn't off the table.

She heard a soft sound in the distance, her ears growing into hound ears, the only part of a partial shift she could confidently do now, listening intently. Her heart jumped up again knowing one of her classmate competitors had already made the drop and exchange, but hearing alone didn't give her a "who".

In fairness, she didn't know what her partner had to deal with. She hoped Kaminari would make it to her for the drop off, the ticking of the clock was making her tense more and more.

By the time she saw the tired boy running clearly as fast as he could, she knew at least five of their classmates were now out-pacing them. Bakugo, especially, had taken off; she wondered who had been his partner. The three power houses of the class had been all with different partners, so there wasn't risk of one team being ridiculously overpowered. She wasn't sure about the others, but she knew Bakugo had been in her half, and she wasn't keen on dealing with him again.

" Rice! I got it!" Her ears, still houndish, flicked forward to Kaminari's call, getting an idea.

She stayed in her spot, unable to run to him, one of the few rules, instead grabbing him as soon as he was in arms reach. In startled surprise he gripped the little Baton tightly, as he was practically pulled on to her back. Finding that handle she'd mentioned getting made, too caught off guard to resist or even argue when he she demanded he grab on.

Which he did, feeling her human body waver under taking on another entire teenagers weight, but taking it for that brief second before it began shifting. It was weird, certainly, feeling the scales come through, the suit and skin almost becoming one as scale took over. Except for where he was now straddling her back. The Handle still there, and still in his hands, recognizing now that her transformation, at least from his perspective was over, she was already mid stride.

Alarice took off at a full sprint, coiling and releasing as her back legs throwing her body forward, running as fast as her large, if slightly spindly body could take them. Picking up pace between each stride, the tension of waiting for him finding some release, finally.

"Hey-!" Kaminari squeezed onto that handle, and found himself quickly shoving the baton where it would be safe for the ride, grabbing onto the mane of hair as well. Alarice had decide to jump onto the first story building next to them rather than continue on the street. She lost little speed in the action. It was only when he heard the increasingly distant voice of Mineta, that he understood. She'd scented something and moved to avoid it before it became a problem.

It wasn't the smoothest ride he'd ever had, or the quietest. Wind rushing, her foot-falls were hardly silent, creating scrabbling, heavy noises as she thundered on. He was also pretty sure he could hear her sharp intakes of breath to keep the pace up. Every so often he caught a glimpse of one of their classmates. Thinking about them he noticed something built into the handle. Something metal.

"Does this conduct my electricity?" Kaminari tried to bark out near her ear so she could hear him. A deep rumbling noise, and a wild nod from her seemed to confirm that yes. She could carry him, but he would have to run defense it seemed. A smirking smile overtook his features. "You can count on me, Rice!"

The wind made his voice sound less confident.

Kaminari knew better than to just flash it out right now, that'd be a waste. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Wait what about you? I might hit you too you know!"

A snort answered him as she never stopped moving between the roofs or streets.

He screwed up his face and held on for dear life and kept an eye out for trouble, which he was sure was going to show up any minute now with their class. Shoji was the first to get the test of the electrical-hound combo they were making. Still daring to get close enough, not knowing about Alarice's immunity to electrical damage, or her new suits set up. It was certainly enough to deter the other teen from trying again to tackle the blond off her back.

She was like a train that couldn't be stopped, the momentum and force behind her now powering her forward till she got to the end of the track, one way or another. It probably helped that she was now all leg. Or was she always all leg? He hadn't spent that much time looking at her hell-hound legs. No point really, to him, any way.

The air got colder very quick and Kaminari knew what that meant. " Rice! You can't just barrel through his ice!" He shouted a warning but his return reward was a kind of roar, as she just continued to bound forward. Not wanting to get frozen himself, or her, he needed to come up with something quickly. Then mentally smacked himself for being so dumb. Electrical energy also produced heat. If Todoroki was looking to slow down his opponents, then he would primarily be using ice, and if Alarice had enough heat protecting her paws, at least, then she should be able to avoid it long enough to get past him. He activated and held his current steady, and gaped at how fast they were going to find out if it would work.

The ice shooting up to make a wall, and block them. Alarice responding by jumping to the closest roof and taking advantage of the nearest low-spot in the ice wall. The electrical energy heating up the wires and points of discharge for it on her suit created a layer of protective heat. It worked well enough, she still felt the bite of cold and had to get off the ice as fast as possible, but it worked.

Despite some frozen nails she put on a burst of speed to get past Todoroki, as well as getting up onto more roofs again, and keeping her contact with a surface he could flash freeze inconsistent, till they were out of range. The pair were so focused on avoiding any more dirty fighting in the race, that when they made it to the exit gate, Kaminari had to shout repeatedly at her to slow down.

Which they did, awkwardly, Alarice almost comically having to butt-slide for them to come to a complete stop. Her nails dragging noisily on the ground, but they did, come to a stop. And she was able to safely let Kaminari down, before turning back into a girl again. Sweat pouring off her, and practically gasping for breath, with a doofy, toothy grin plastered on her face. A similar smile on his own, before she let herself down to the ground. Iida, Bakugo and Midoriya made it through in extremely close succession proceeding them. They'd made it through by bare milliseconds.

Kaminari suddenly felt it, after such a rough and long ride, and had to equally lower himself to the ground. He hadn't noticed it during the ride, having been to concerned about falling off the whole time. Now though, he felt that ugly pain between his legs. He let out a little groan and tried to keep it to himself in the face of their victory. "It's a good thing we won." he wheezed out.

"We did! We won!" Alarice said rather proudly, despite still breathing pretty hard, her lungs were burning and she'd definitely take a bottle of water or five, later. Then she realized why he looked a little bit uncomfortable. "Oh my god. Denki, I'm so sorry."

Kaminari desperately tried to look less pained. "No its okay, it wasn't on purpose or anything... besides, we won right?" A big red flush was now on his face, he did not want to discuss his now sore body parts.

Alarice had also turned deep red in the cheeks, a mix of guilt of and embarrassment. She fidgeted nervously before giving him a thumbs up. "Yeap, Your defense was top notch Denki."

Despite the some-what pained look on his face, a confident smile crept back onto the blond's face. "Thanks, 'Rice." It only made the red on her face all that deeper.

"I'm so sorry, Denki." was Alarice's quiet response, bashful and a bit embarrassed for her teammate.

"That was a big finish for you both." Yagi had come over as the rest of the kids were now making it through, Cementoss who had joined in to help with this particular assignment, handled the regrouping kids. There was a dust of pink on Yagi's cheeks, too and the man nervously seemed to struggle to find the words. "Quite a display of team-work going on there, but it looks like you both should probably go see Recovery Girl."

His tone was all over the place, and he was clearly trying his hardest to be casual about it. Though, he was clearly very sympathetic to Kaminari's current plight. Alarice managed to get herself to her shaking feet, and offered a hand to her friend, who took it. She was too close to the cause to laugh at how awkwardly the boy stood up. At least Hero class students were almost expected to get hurt, no one really questioned it.

It was mercifully easy to explain what had happened to Recovery Girl, who seemed to just smile and nod and gave Alarice some candy and water, and did the same for Kaminari, plus gave him a healing smooch to the face.

Now the only thing to be injured was Kaminari's pride.

Mineta couldn't keep his words to himself, once class was over. "Wow I can't believe you got to ride Stone." He shook his head.

Kaminari turned pink in the face. "Don't say it like that! It was more like she carried me."

"I can't believe he didn't wear any _protection."_ This comment came from Sero with a teasing smile of his own for Kaminari.

"I didn't think I would be riding!" Kaminari tried to defend himself, still red in the face with embarrassment and getting worse. "Besides I'm sure I'm not the only one whose costume doesn't have_ that_ built in!"

"Nope." Sero covered for himself.

"I got mine." called some one else knocking on something plastic, other boys were nodding. Kaminari felt himself sweat more and more with increased shame as it was quickly obvious he was potentially the only one. Mineta remained suspiciously silent.

"You should still get at least a jockstrap for your hero-costume man." Kirishima was now involved though he was hardly teasing. "you literally never know."

Kaminari found the teasing to stretch on for the rest of the day from some of the boys. A continuous visual of classmates shaking their head at him was just salt in the wound. Alarice on the other side of things, found herself also teased. Mostly in how she'd managed to 'injure' him, to her continued embarrassment. She knew she'd need to find some way to apologize to him at a later date.

She didn't bother to listen to the boys further as they continued the last few classes. She'd texted Sunshine that her first 'super move' she'd tried to develop and used, had gone down great. She didn't know what to name that yet, Hell-Hound Charge seemed fine. She hadn't gotten any feedback from her or Prometheus but that was okay.

Sunshine was quiet in the staff meeting room, listening to Nezu talk about a recent report from the police he'd been given. Keeping her hands and eyes off her phone, despite desperately wanting to check it. Amongst the staff it was well known that Sunshine was Alarice's God-mother, even if the students didn't know it, and the main subject of the meeting did not please her one bit.

As Heros, as a Hero school, they had been given very honest information from the police, and on the projector, in big letters read, like a newspaper.

**7 people confirmed dead, 14 still missing, all so far confirmed to be Hell-hound quirk users. **

Advisory that all Hellhound Quirk users either report their status to their local police and schools and/or Parents keep close tabs on any minors with this quirk.

Please call this ### ### #### if you know any Hell-hound quirk users who are hiding, or if you have one in your care.

The count of missing and dead wasn't international, it was Japan itself. Japan had the bulk of Hell-hounds. The over-all total of missing and dead hell-hounds, internationally was higher: 35. A gigantic number for a world filled with Heros. Sunshine had delivered the info herself, though Nezu was dealing it out.

It felt weird, given that everyone in the room knew they had exactly one Hell-hound.

Alarice Stone.

"Miss Sunshine, if you would give us any knowledge you have about this situation that would better help us protect our students." The furry rodent offered with a casual gesture towards her, despite the serious matter. Furthered by the amount of looks, one of which was quite cold to her. She was sure Aizawa was thinking up many, many words for her at this very moment. "Since I was informed that this is currently believed to be the result of the Coyote Noirs themselves."

She stood, trying to keep the worry from taking over her face. "It likely is. Despite being mostly defunct, they had ties all around the world at one point. It's possible that they are flexing what remains to gather, against their will and destroying the victims they deem useless."

"It's possible, that they are trying to regroup." Sunshine continued with some unease about the matter. It was close to home for her after all. "More than likely they would simply attempt something small, their coordination has been excellent so far, and its likely they'll continue to keep themselves low, and trying to lure out a student rather than trying to take them while on campus. It'd be best if students, even ones not Stone, were to keep to groups when leaving the Campus itself."

The school had become a boarding school after its own incident, to better protect its students. In many regards this was one of the safest places to put Stone, and really, she was the only target they had on their grounds. All other suggestions at this point became an invasion of privacy, not that she didn't already have a tracker imbedded in Alarice's phone. "Its likely that a tracker might be the only thing left." She suggested, knowing it was redundant.

"What about suspects?" Snipe questioned. Sunshine looked to Nezu who changed the screen, leaving six boxes for images. 4 of the 6 were filled with photographs taken clearly while being arrested, their real names, Villainous Alias, and quirks listed neatly beneath. Two of them were Hellhounds themselves, notable variants too. Two were empty of photos. With only limited info, Alias mostly, One of them "Manticore" had no real name and was suspected to have a trans-formative quirk. The other "Isolator" with some sort of unknown quirk power.

"These are the current Six suspects we are aware of, at this time." Nezu stated, Sunshine nodding along. The meeting went on for a bit longer, the deciding that putting 'another' tracker on Stone, and informing her personally, was in order to make sure she understood what kind of danger she could potentially be in. Since she was Sunshine's God-daughter, she of course, took responsibility for this activity.

Hell-hounds potentially killing each other, left an uncomfortable question hanging in the air. Sunshine answered it before it was asked; "Hell-hounds are undeniably, intensely loyal. Don't know why, but they are. Stone is dedicated this life-path, she wont turn on it for sweet promises."

Conversations persisted and the meeting wrapped with a sigh of resignation about the nature of their school's luck with students.

Sunshine left casually, a dark shadow tagging along behind her, before catching up with her long legged strides easily. "You could have saved all the trouble and told me you were bringing her here for safety, rather than dropping a surprise trouble child into my lap."

Sunshine was quiet to the accusation from Aizawa, barely acknowledging that. "You didn't need to know, and would it have _really_ changed anything?"

He growled something back at her. "Seeing as how she was stabbed recently, _Yes._" He probably would have stayed at the stupid DJ show himself if he'd known that there would have been any real threat like that happening.

"It was un-related. He didn't know who she was." Sunshine stated curtly, wondering why lazy Aizawa Shouta was bothering to ask her questions like this. "You're a lot softer than I remember you being."

"And you're a lot colder." He retorted. She got into the elevator, ignoring him and he was returning the favor, distrusting this golden goddess of a woman but having nothing more than her constant withholding of information to go on. He turned on his heel, heading back to voice his concern. He didn't like being used, not blindly, and Nezu very likely had a good picture of what was potentially going on.

Sunshine headed towards the UA dormitories, and entered looking for Alarice, enjoying the polite sweetness of Midoriya, and amused by the looks of the other teenage boys (and a girl, or two) in the room. She was assistant teacher primarily to the upper-classmen, not these kids.

Alarice came down to meet her, and the golden hero filled her in on what she needed to know. Stone nodded slowly, a rather downcast look on her face as she responded. "Alright.. I understand... also has uh.. Is Prometheus okay? He hasn't responded to me in awhile."

"He's fine, I'm sure. I'm still waiting for a response myself." Sunshine forced out a small smile for her God-daughter. "I'll let you know as soon as I know, okay?"


	16. One of the Pack

(( thank you guys for the views holy shit ;-; I really appreciate it. Let me know if bold works for english or not... ))

*Bold designates English

* * *

Chapter 16

"One of the Pack"

Parasus Stone tapped her foot slightly, waiting for her Official UA Escort, that would walk her through the gates, and let her see her little sister, Alarice Stone. Half-sister, any way. Always little sister to Parasus though. In a Family like theirs, half or not half didn't really matter.

She hardly looked related, her skin lighter in tone, jaw structure wider, her shoulders and over-all body more delicate looking. Her hair was just as midnight-dark, but it was long and barely wavy. Most obvious was her lack of black sclera, though, her eyes a bright cheerful blue. But, her paper work made their association far more obvious: related through their father, both were Giant-type Hell-hounds. With a sigh of relief her escort finally showed up, Hound-dog looking... well, like a dog.

"Thank you!" She said quite cheerfully, following delicately behind on mild heels. She got a gruff noise in response and accepted that.

"Very nice, a really lovely place to go to school !" she added, her enthusiasm genuine. "Wish my schools had been even half this nice and well cared for."

Hound dog didn't really respond just nodded and kept walking.

They weren't a prison, but, there wasn't a dedicated 'meeting place' for guests either. Well there sort of was, but you weren't required to meet there and only there. More like there was restrictions where a guest couldn't go more than anything else. She was led to where she was allowed, and technically, family guests were allowed in the Dorms but it had been decided that she meet her little sister out front, first.

Alarice took her time getting outside, and eventually did, halting a little at the door as if unsure if the person standing there at the foot of the stairs was really there.

"Alarice! Little Pup!" Parasus called, throwing her arms wide apart for her little sister. Alarice came down with a little less energy than that. Allowing herself into the hug, looking quite stiff about it, even as she folded her arms around her sister. The girls were slightly different in height, with Parasus being the taller one. "It's so good to see you!"

Alarice quietly nodded, releasing her sister and stepping back, her voice quiet in response too. "It's good to see you too."

Parasus took her hair into her hands. "Your hair's gotten so long, gosh how long has it been little pup?"

"... awhile." Alarice said, still quiet and subdued. Looking sometimes at her sister and mostly at the ground. "I missed you."

"I'm sure you did, I've just been busy that's all." Parasus re-assured, before turning to look directly into the eyes of her Homeroom teacher, who hadn't made himself known, but was standing idly by. "And who's this? This isn't my Furry escort."

"He's my Teacher, Eraserhead." Alarice answered, said Teacher nodded. Parasus smiled a toothy smile, still deliberately making eye-contact.

"That's a scary name for a Teacher." Her voice came out cool.

Aizawa just nodded, coming closer with barely a sound to his steps, and a forcefully relaxed posture. "Parsus Stone?"

"Nailed it. I am she." She answered easily, hardly bothered by the man. Alarice was quite silent, watching the staring match between the adults. She put both her hands on Alarice's stiff shoulders then, making the younger jump a little. "Thanks, for teaching my little Sister better than thoose losers in the states."

He was silent, and Parasus filled the silence easily for them both. "Alarice, I have to know what kind of fancy living you've got in these palaces you guys call 'dorms!" She gave Alarice a little playful shake by the shoulders, Before directing her towards the doors. Parasus turned around before continuing, grinning, having put herself between Alarice and Aizawa. "If that's okay with you."

"If Stone wants to." He gave a casual shrug, looking to Alarice who briefly met his look only to look back at the ground as if ashamed. Quietly answering; "Yeah, it's fine."

She lead her sister up the stairs with heavy feet and even held the door for her. Aizawa stayed at the foot of the stairs, debating going in, also. He noticed he wasn't alone in the watching, spying his other extra student Shinso. He'd been watching that, too, apparently, He headed over to talk to him, and nip a potential problem in the bud if he could.

Parasus took in a deep breath as she came into the foyer of the building, smelling the scents and not being bothered by her sister's look at her for it. Eyeing the big common room the kids had. "oh my such Fancy living!" Parasus complimented again, noticing a few heads popping up over the couch to look at her.

"Yeah... it's nice." Alarice said quietly, Following closely behind her sister, forcing herself to relax and let the tension in her body out. Parasus walking faster than her with her longer legs. She waved at the other kids of 1-A who were downstairs, who if they looked at her, just gave her odd looks. "um.. hey Parasus did you want to see my room?"

"Of course! Take me there!" She was so energetic and overjoyed, as Alarice gestured for her to follow, desperate to get her leave. Leaving confusion for her classmates below.

Parasus waited patiently to be let into her sisters room, walking in politely and almost throwing her small purse against the wall. Alarice having walked in first immediately regretted it, as her sisters person now blocked the door way. She came in far enough to keep it that way, examining the room around her. "**You still like that LOUD guy huh**."

"**It's **_**Present Mic**_**.**" Alarice corrected, a little braver than before about it. Parasus waved her hand at her. Her voice less sweet than before. "**Yeah I read that he teaches here. Must be nice, getting to play hero, getting to be around your idol, and living nice.**"

Parasus picked at something small Alarice had on her desk. Her body relaxing a bit, the facade of energy and cheer falling away. She fixed her gaze on her sister. "**Listen, we gotta talk.**"

"**It's about that thing... that Sunshine told me about isn't it... all the other.. uh.."**

"**Our Pack, our dead and missing pack! Of **_**course**_** its about that!**" Parasus managed to bark out despite keeping her tone level. She folded her arms over her chest, looking impatient with her. Alarice didn't know what to say, bad things happened, regardless of who was around some times.

"**Some good being in Japan did for them, huh?**" She mocked before seeing Alarice's face, and let out a sigh. " **Alarice, I came back so I could come get you.**"

Alarice looked up, and fiddled with her hair as she did so. "**I.. think it's safer for me here.**" She said quietly, looking up then looking away from Parasus. Feeling the heat of her sister's gaze on her as she continued. **"Prometheus is missing too, and I don't want to not ever know what happened to him." **

"**Yeah the baby-sitter Sunshine would leave you with." **Alarice looked at the floor, her expression going dark. **"Ugh, listen he'll be fine, I know you're attached to him but he'll be fine." **The older hound let out a breath at her. "**I'm not going to expect you to get it, Alarice, you're still a pup. I just hate it when you act like this.**"

The room became quiet again, before Parasus took a deep breath, and settled onto the bed, Patting it for Alarice come join her. Which with a moments hesitation did come join her. "**You know I care about you, I taught you to fight, did like, all of the cooking, that sort of stuff.**"

"**You taught me how to hot wire a car**"

"**Right, like that."** Parasus paused to look at her sister. Alarice nodded quietly, remembering all the times Parasus had helped out after Miranda had died. Parasus had briefly been something like her 'mother figure' in the absence of her actual birth mother, and the handicapping of her Father. "**I just want to do what's best, you don't have to do it, but it'd be smart of you to think about it.**"

Alarice only nodded again, allowing her sister to pull her into a hug she wasn't sure about. While older girl held tight to her sister, Parasus let out a teasing laugh at her too. "**Also... might help if you grow up and let go of all this fan-girl junk.**" Alarice let out a huff and Parasus released her, to look at her sister's face.

"**I'm teasing but I'm serious.**" She said, ruffling her hair some-what, despite its corded nature and braided state. "**It's not like he can really care about you, not like me and dad. We love you and care about you, not **_**them**_**. Also: he's not even got a quirk like yours, there's nothing to gain from admiring some one who has nothing to offer you. It's time to put away childish things like that.**"

Alarice looked away from her, not giving that an answer. She already knew the answers around her that were so obvious. She just... didn't want to let go of her things just yet, they were just things after all. The room went silent for a few seconds before Parasus stood up. Dusting herself off, despite their being no dust. "**Well, I have to go back to my motel, walk me to the door will you?"**

Alarice nodded, quietly, having said little the whole time, falling back into the subdued, quiet girl she had always been at home. Parasus made a noise, and put a little piece of paper down on her desk. "**Here, come meet me here Saturday, we can talk more then and maybe get some food huh?**"

"**Sure.**"

Alarice lead her older sister out of the 1-A dorm, ignoring the look from Iida and a few others as they passed. Parasus waving quiet goodbyes to the kids as she was lead out, a cheerful smile on her face. Walking her through the doors of the dorm and back out onto the walk- ways of the campus. The sun shining bright and warming their bodies. "See me out?"

"Yeah." Alarice knew better than to argue, and lead her sister out, even when Hounddog joined them, making sure their Guest was seen appropriately out the gate. It was a quiet walk there, and a waving goodbye, that followed with a relieved breath from Alarice, though the tension in her body didn't immediately release.

"Family is odd isn't it." Hounddog said, eyeing this young student's discomfort with a concerned dog expression.

"mhmm." Alarice agreed quietly, heading to turn back, before one of his overly large, gloved hands, trapped her shoulder, stopping her, she looked up at him, confused, then slightly panicked for a moment. Internally distressed that perhaps, some how, they knew, and now she was seconds from being thrown out, it would make their lives infinitely easier for them to do so right now, and now that her sister was back in town..

"If you need someone to talk to, Just ask." He let her shoulder go, she seemed to consider that, as she visibly calmed down. Though her gaze was distant and she offered up no information.

She headed back to the dorms, at a subdued pace, feeling a mix of feelings about what her sister's visit meant. Not to mention that she'd probably have to tell Sunshine... Then all that stuff Sunshine told her the day previous... she let out a sigh as she made it to the stairs. Looking at the ground for a moment, lost in her own troubled thoughts.

"Stone, are you alright?" Iida asked, appearing to have waited for her to come back. She couldn't make out his expression, with the sun glaring off his glasses. She walked up the stairs, unsure if she was going to tell him much. She decided by the time she got up to the stairs.

"I... don't know." She said finally, thinking how to explain this to Iida. "I was happy to leave America because, I figured, I'd be far from my problems."

She didn't quite go into detail and Iida remained quiet, she leaned up against a wall, and continued; "I haven't seen her in a really long time, and we didn't part on good terms. She was always very protective of me, almost controlling. "

"ah." he mused, giving himself time to respond, he could, in a way, relate. "I see. Family expectations.. they can be hard to live up to." He paused as if not sure what to say, looking away from Alarice's almost sad-dog look she was giving him. He found himself struggling to find some way to explain his sympathy for her without being condescending.

"Family is weird huh? They expect a lot out of you, and don't really ask what it is you want or think." Alarice stated calmly, folding her arms up over her chest.

"Yes." Iida stated, deciding how he would do this. "They often give you shoes... that seem impossible to fill. There's an immense pressure, even if you put yourself there." Alarice noted some tension in his shoulders as he talked. "I.. can sort of understand, how you might feel. I am from a family of Heros, and... while I have chosen this path for myself just as they chose it for me, there is still a large pressure to honor your family's wishes."

He reached out and put one of those big hands, that were warm with brotherly energy on her shoulder. Alarice couldn't read whatever is she saw in his dark blue eyes, but he smiled all the same. "Prove to her that this is where you should be. Defy her expectations with the role you choose for _yourself._"

Alarice looked up at him, almost blankly, before smiling a bit, she yet again found herself unable to stop the words before they tumbled out of her mouth. "I think that's the first big brother type speech I've ever heard." She couldn't help but crack a smile, perhaps out of a desire to break the tension, or perhaps because of what he didn't know about Parasus.

"Big Brother?" Iida questioned her, a little confused.

"Yeah, you've got this.. really good big brother vibe to you." Alarice said, laughing a little and wiping a tear out of her eye.

Iida looked stunned for a moment, as if not quite getting that what she was saying was a compliment. "I do?"

"Totally. It's comforting." Alarice said giving a little laugh at how he responded to being told he had big brother energy. "It's funny because, Parasus doesn't have any of that kind of thing about her."

"Well, isn't she your sister though?" Iida asked, still a little surprised, but quickly tried to backpedal "I don't mean to offend!"

"Half – sister, " Alarice corrected. "She took care of me, but she doesn't.. she doesn't really have that 'energy'." She shrugged, easily relaxing now into the conversation with stiff Iida. "It's weird, she considers me a sister, but... She just never feels like my big sister. I don't know how to explain it, and it doesn't help that there's this... Hell-hound loyality thing."

He still looked confused but since they were sharing a nice moment she kept going and hoped it wouldn't freak him out. The cat was kind of out of the bag, since the news and Sunshine's visit the other day.

"So, um, I don't like talking about it but... We have this _really_ strong sense of loyality. Dad said the only reason he could turn on his 'so called family' was he fell in love with my mom. Even though I don't think of Parasus like my big sister, or even... feel that way... I can't not think of her as family. Blood runs thicker than water, and all that." Alarice kind of gave a half- hearted shrug again, and stood up off the wall.

Iida seemed to get it. Giving a simple "I see" in response.

"Thanks, Iida, for talking to me." She said simply, a light smile on her face, though there was touches of sadness on her features still. "thanks for waiting for me."

With that, she headed in feeling slightly better, even if what she had said to Iida was almost only half-truths. She couldn't, and wouldn't dare say what she was pretty sure Parasus was expecting of her, to Iida. Not to any one here for that matter.

000

A few days later, Sunshine was stunned, and tried so hard not to show it. She wanted to be angrier, but even if no one had told her, again, it was in some degree, good news. Parasus was here in Japan.

"Parasus Stone came here?"

"Well, yeah, She's her sister. Half-sister." Came the confused response of Thirteen, who was truly confused as to why Sunshine would be responding in such a way. It certainly wasn't doing the woman any favors. Midnight quietly listening to this as she sat there pretending to work just to listen in better.

"Why … didn't any one tell me?" Sunshine asked again, almost offended before remembering to add on a little detail. "Since I'm her godmother, I would have liked to have been told."

"Shouldn't you have known to begin with?" Thirteen responded, failing to not sound to accusatory about it.

Sunshine went quiet, before settling to her seat again and dropping her surprise and anger as she did so. Or at least, tried too. She let out a curse under her breath, and ran a hand through her hair as she tapped her nail on the desk. She let out another big breath before conceding. "Yes, you're right, Thirteen."

"You seem agitated, Sunshine, is everything alright?" Thirteen asked, curious and concerned why this was such a big deal. Sunshine gave them a look, realizing something important.

"I'm worried." She forced herself to relax. "I have a pair of Sidekicks, and one of them isn't responding, they've gone missing."

The room had a sudden somber feeling to it. Any Hero would understand what that could mean easily. Thirteen's tone softened significantly for Sunshine. "I'm so sorry. I.. hope they're okay."

Sunshine nodded to them in thanks, before standing up. Grabbing her things, and preparing to leave, since she didn't have anything else to do that day. She wasn't challenged by the remaining teachers after that, she bid them goodbye, and nearly walked full-on into Present Mic, and quickly navigating around him. Disappearing down the hall way without a single word.

"What's with that?" The voice hero questioned, before walking in.

"Missing Sidekick." Midnight answered before Thirteen could. Mic made some noise of understanding.

"Explains that then." Mic sat down at his desk, picking up a pencil he had for marking papers. Though he notably didn't even start, twiddling the pencil between his fingers. "Doesn't explain why her God-daughter has been so avoidant lately."

Midnight gave him a look while he continued to prattle on, her response that she'd listen unnecessary to him.

"Like, usually we'd have some sort of little talk after class, **Pupper**, and I that is, usually about DJ' stuff but mostly remixes. It's really cute how into it she is! You'd never guess from her behavior that she'd ever be interested in DJ stuff at all. Or anything related, cuz she's so quiet. BUT, she is, and plus she's clearly got the punk aesthetic, _**on lock**_**.**" He took a breath, to get back on track. "Anyway, She's just been so avoidant, and didn't even say hi to me at all the other day when I went to see how Aizawa's extra-classes were going! It's really heart breaking because A) I really like our little talks, they're fun! And B) I really wanted a Teachers Pet of my own! You know, like Yagi and Aizawa have with Midoriya and Shinso. I asked if something was wrong, and she just told me it wasn't any of my _business_. She emphasized it like that too."

"First off Mic, you can't call a student a 'teachers pet' like that, It's inappropriate." Midnight chastised. Mic looking back at her with knitted brows.

"Says the R-rated Hero Midnight who teaches at a highschool." He bit back.

Midnight blew past that and went back to his main topic. "I'm serious," there was a small 'so am I' under his breath, "You can't just have a 'student pet' that's.. not how that works. You are going to get in trouble talking like that."

Mic began to visibly pout that she said it. "But.." "Yagi and Midoriya's relationship is what it is because of their similar quirks. He has to be involved."

"Well what about Aizawa and Shinso then? Why can't I have something like that?"

Midnight let out a frustrated breath at him. "You could but you have to remember she's your _Fan, and your student._" This at least seemed to remind Mic what his position was in his relationship that he had with Stone.

"So, I'll just give **Pupper** some space."

"Whose **Pupper**?" Thirteen asked.

"That's my Nickname for Stone!" Mic proudly proclaimed without hesitation.

"Isn't that also kind of inappropriate for you have a nickname for one of your students?" Thirteen asked, with a good bit of hesitation.

"Only if it was just her, I have Nicknames for all of them! Do you want to hear them?!" Mic's voice raising in volume at the excitement of a change of topic.

"uh... n-no I don'-" "I want to hear, them. Right now. Then later, be my wing-man at the bar tonight" Midnight said, cutting in.

Mic gave her an enthusiastic agreement, and a thumbs up, before rattling-off all the nicknames he had for 1-A, and then 1-B, and... the list of students when on and on. Aizawa visibly looking like he was in pain when he came in. Turning around before his boyfriend noticed him in the room during his listing of student nicknames.


	17. Multiple accounts of attempted normalcy

Chapter 17

" Multiple Accounts of Attempted Normalcy "

The talk about Parasus had spread all over, with various degrees of thought about the situation, and the weird and stressed ways that both Alarice and Sunshine had reacted to the visit. Yagi was in the 'concerned adult' category of people. Then again, he often was a perpetual 'concerned adult', unable to not feel compelled to help people. A factor that made his retirement from pro-hero to teacher all the more difficult for him.

He was relieved to some degree to see that it hadn't put Alarice out of interest of continuing that work she'd been doing with Midoriya. The last few nights they were getting close to achieving the goal. Though they'd made use of their time even when she 'messed up' and popped all the way to a Hound, they'd have a sort of spar. Building up her adaption, Midoriya training against a larger form, and Alarice having to work on her mobility. Despite her impressive flexibility, her actual ability to deal with smaller targets was hindered by her size.

Tonight when he came by to check on how they were doing, there was a pleasant surprise.

The fruits of their efforts were borne in front of his eyes.

Alarice's form shifted, bones lengthened to make her legs more digi-grade like, the tail came out but it was thinner, more monkey like than anything else, even with the hand. Her body still covered itself in scales and fur. The Skull face came out too, but it was shorter in snout, and with the fur bursting around her head and neck, made it look almost like a mask. And more importantly, looked extremely fluffy. Her furry ruff, looking almost like a lion's mane, covered her shoulders and neck, and went down her spine, going to her tail's hand as well.

"I think I got it!" Alarice exclaimed, almost surprising herself! Her werewolf shape altered the tones that came out of her, hardly making her sound female, let alone like herself. A fact that paled in comparison to the benefit of being able to communicate.

"Sure looks like it!" Midoriya's own voice was pleased, while she gave herself a once-over on her appearance, holding still for a moment. A sort of soft crackle to the air sent off that he was activating his own quirk. "Wanna see how well you can hold that form?"

"Hell yes I do." She called back, punctuated with growls that sounded somewhere between a dog and an alligator.

So Yagi leaned against a wall and let his presence remain unseen while the two students sparred against each other. She could not match his speed, but that nature of being a werehound vs being a full hound, meant she was able to counter and move out of the way with a lot more efficiency. She was still mostly on the defense but there was notes of her aggression to find a way to go on the offensive.

Eventually he did have to let the kids know he was standing there, clapping his hands to do just that.

"Young Midoriya, Young Stone you've managed to have come a long way haven't you?" The skinny blonde was practically beaming. It was certainly always refreshing to see young hero-hopefulls working together, and doing so honestly. "You've finally gotten a half-way form."

Alarice's skull-faced head nodded, all the fluff and ruff giving that her a slightly more approachable appearance despite the skull. "Yeah."

She dropped it down to be a human again, and even her clothes had indeed, survived. Mostly anyway, the white tanktop was fine, but the pants had been torn up to the thigh. She shrugged at their state. "Clothes even mostly made it through."

"All Might, how long were you watching for?" Midoriya asked, also powered down. It was probably the youthful energy that kept the two teens from looking all that tired.

"For a bit." he responded, a toothy smile added. "I needed to check up on your progress, and since she's been training with you, I got to see her's too."

He smiled broadly at her, comforting and proud. "I think you've got a powerful move there, young Stone."

Despite her sister's visit having obviously put her on edge, she had a hard time feeling that way now. It might be that she'd worked off her tension with Midoriya, or that even in his state, Yagi was a very reassuring person. She smiled a bit at that, nodding. "Thank you."

She thanked Midoriya too, before shuffling off for the night, to let the two talk to each other privately, as they frequently did when he appeared outside of class. She hoped she'd get to occasionally still fight with Midoriya, it felt really rewarding at the end of each time. Alarice didn't feel the exhaustion from the day's events hit her till she got to her room, where she promptly passed out into her bed.

She'd ask about continuing to train with him, if he wanted of course, later.

000

Super Moves had their place in Hero training but today she was focusing on rescue training. Which was actually something she was immensely more comfortable doing. It was somewhat easy to let that natural desire to help take over in these settings. Today she was assigned the water-side of the USJ building.

Rescues at sea was what they'd be doing, or rather, 'small lake'. UA wasn't THAT well stocked on resources.

"She looks like an Alligator." Commented Aoyama, one of four playing Victim on the boat, Pointing at the pale white nose and thin nostrils protected by hard bone, peeking from the water. They flared calmly, the rest of the hell-hound vaguely visible beneath that. "It's not vary sparkly, but how lucky to be so tall!"

Alarice couldn't really hear them, which was fine, her role was to be the 'pull' on their life raft. It lacked an engine, and since 'shore' was close enough, she was playing the role of pulling it. She was barely tall enough to stand at one side of the ship and hold their raft steady through the use of rope and her strong jaws. Though her back leg hung over the edge of an oddly deeper pit underwater.

She wondered about that in aquatic silence.

Kirishima and Asui were on the task of getting each 'victim' off the ship. Aoyama was being as dramatic as necessary of course, while still twinkling away. He was easily the most cooperative, sitting patiently for them to lower Ojiro down too.

"Ah, next is..."

"The Child, take this Child!" Hagakure called, a pair of gloves holding up Mineta. Who didn't look thrilled, opening his mouth to argue.

"Right we can put him in this net and lower him down." Asui commented, holding out the regular looking net, playing along with the role Mineta was unceremoniously given. Hagakure placing him in it before he could struggle away.

Kirishima helped hook it securely and began lowering it. "Oh right!" he realized as they got the 'Child' Mineta down to the inflated raft. "Kids might not be able to make climbs or descents safely on their own!"

Asui nodded, though they hadn't done it when she was learning out on the open-seas herself with Selkie, she had heard about it. Kirishima kept lowering till Mineta was largely in the raft, and pulled it back up when he was out of the net, and it was re-hooked.

Kirishima looked at... well he looked at their last victim's gloves. Realizing that he had no idea where to 'grab' to help her down, and was incredibly nervous about attempting. Asui took over for him easily, thankfully.

"Just like that. Head down after her, Kirishima." Asui directed Hagakure on where to grab, before climbing over the side herself, and dropping herself gracefully into the water. Stone couldn't hear them underwater after all, someone needed to tell her when Kirishima made it down.

Down on the raft, some room was carefully made for Hagakure, by Ojiro who had done quite a lot of exercises with her at this point. Kirishima made it down last of course, and Asui gave Stone the signal, before hopping up to the raft herself, despite not really needing too.

Alarice did her part, pulling the raft. Walking along the bottom, More and more of her surfacing as she did so. Clearly holding onto the rope with her jaws, releasing some of it as she went so that she could pull the raft without knocking it as more of her body came out of the water.

Shoulders out, and her soaked mane looking vaguely flat. Mineta decided now to miss-behave, trying to stage something, but missing her back and landing full on in the water. Where Alarice responded by not slowing down but picking him up with her tail, and putting him onto the shore when they got there.

"Ahhh I almost drowned!" Mineta dramatically layed from the ground. Stone stood there on the shore with Asui, human-shaped now and slightly taller than Asui. Hagakure standing nearby them, all three girls watching this display. Knowing full well what grape-juice was doing.

"I need mouth-to-mouth!" He cried

"I got this." Kirishima took over, with a confident sharky-grin while the girls just stood there a little bit, debating calling this 'drowned child' a lost cause and writing him off. "Wait!" Mineta cried suddenly realizing he wasn't going to get what he wanted out of his little ruse.

Krisihima gave him a rough punch to the chest. Forcing any water Mineta could have had, out in one go. "Can't do mouth-to-mouth till the air ways are clear of fluid! But you seem to be breathing fine now!" Kirishima added, picking Mineta up and ignoring any salty comments.

"Looks like every one was rescued just fine." Asui croaked and Alarice nodded. The students began to talk among themselves, before a Switch was called for over the intercoms of the room. Hero teams now had to rotate to the right, and play victim, while the previous location victims stayed and now took on the Hero roles.

Her little group was now in the Downpour zone, waiting to be rescued of course. It was boring role-playing as a victim, but she did her part, and while she didn't have much to do, she began to think about her problem: Parasus.

Parasus had asked her to go to lunch with her, and probably intended it to be a solo lunch, however, that wasn't going to be possible. UA had new rules now, and Alarice did not intend to break those rules for anyone, even her sister. Which meant she had to ask some one to go with her to meet her sister. She briefly felt that she shouldn't go, just ghost on it and apologize later, but her stomach immediately felt sick at the thought. Current hell-hound situation not withstanding, she was her big sister, she deserved respect.

As she was being 'rescued' by her fellow hero students, she knew who she would ask to go with her, but she'd have to wait till this class was over. Probably even till after extra class was over too.

000

Stone's werewolf self stood completely still and surprisingly blank in expression, the wispy smoke effect from her eyes gone, to white dinner plate eyes. Shinso however, looked smug as could be about the matter.

"Come here."

She did of course, like an awkward zombie, it was a little weird to see her tail just drag on the ground.

"Sit, put your hands behind your back. "Yet again, the werewolf just did exactly as she was told. A model participant while he bound her hands, per requirements to win the little match. Till he booped her head, releasing her, and upon doing so, Stone let out a confused noise, and pretty much dropped her form immediately. The ties came loose on her wrists. Well, one wrist was still tied, the other came loose when her wrist down-sized. She stood up suddenly, her face showing a range emotions before a calm took over. She hesitated before asking, and cast a single glance over to Aizawa.

He didn't seem bothered yet, so she asked. "Was that your quirk?" Her voice was low like she was asking about drugs or something. A faint, thin smile, that managed to look like a smirk appeared on the boy's face. "That's sneaky."

"Rematch?" He offered, that smirk still present on the purple haired boy's face.

She opened her mouth, then shut it, screwing up her face in thought. Shinso couldn't help but kind of enjoy the conflict as she tried to figure out how he'd brainwashed her. It wasn't too hard to figure out if they paid attention, Ojiro had figured it out. Somewhat, anyway. She apparently had some inkling because she just nodded.

The two students went at each other again, It didn't end nearly as fast, the second time. Alarice amusingly keeping some distance from him when he said anything, but not necessarily answering, till he asked her if she was going to continue to bounce away from him like an ugly, rabid-dog.

"How does growling even count!?" she practically yelled, pink in the face and clearly frustrated that she'd fallen for his trick again, and lost. "It's response, isn't it. If I respond, that triggers it, right?"

Shinso just gave her a casual shoulder shrug, palms up as if he didn't know the answer. "Is that what you think?"

Alarice just narrowed her eyes at him, giving him no response, pretty sure he was trying to do it again. Get that magical third win in, via his quirk, which she had to admit was... pretty strong, even if it was a simple as she suspected. "Rematch." She stated.

The third fight started, with Shinso dodging to the side to avoid her swing. He noted she was staying amazingly quiet this time, which of course made sense she'd figured it out now.

"So your sister's pretty, isn't she?" He called out dodging one of her kicks, but only just barely. "Pretty weird any way, like she's a recovered villain or something, huh?"

He received nothing so far, and her greater physical capabilities were going to close the gap eventually.

"Planning on leaving with her?"

"Two dogs running away, right?

"You two look nothing alike, are you sure your related at all?" It was hard to tell with that skull face if she was glaring but if that flare of white-smoke-flames in her eyes was anything, it was a sign that he was touching nerves. "Guess Dad wasn't very loyal to Mom, was he?-" "SHU-"

And the fight ended there, and the third match was over, and thus, their little extra-class. If Aizawa hadn't called the fight over for the day, Shinso was pretty sure Alarice would have tackled him to the ground the second there was a chance for it.

"You'll need to get over that knee jerk reaction to an insult of family." Aizawa stated bluntly and Alarice just nodded. "Its a big weakness, easy to exploit." "yessir" There was an awkward pause where he noted Stone wiping potential tears out of her eyes. She offered nothing else for him to observe as he sent them to go change clothes.

Aizawa gave a look that was akin to a cat's judging look, to Shinso, who just shrugged. Stone heading back to her dorm as soon as she was allowed, not even waiting to share part of that walk with her extra-class classmate. "You do not need to get involved with the situation with Stone and her sister, do you understand?"

Shinso just nodded, looking tired and like a mini purple haired version of himself. Didn't make the teen very easy to read, so he added more to his statement. "You may have cost yourself her friendship by prodding her in that way, even if it did work."

He sent Shinso on his way as well, and considered the info he had.


	18. Gotta Go Fast

(( sorry about the late update! I'm doing Inktober as well :D ))

* * *

Chapter 18

"Gotta Go Fast"

"Alright, you and Iida are going to be back before 8pm correct?"

Both teens nodded. Aizawa gave an affirmative nod back. "Iida, since you're provisionally licensed, I'm making it your responsibility to know what do if the situation arises."

It was vague, but the young man got the picture pretty clearly. Aizawa did not forget, and thankfully, neither did Iida, who nodded. "Yes sir."

Aizawa shooed them out, going back to looking at his papers. Considering why Stone asked Iida to go with her, and not perhaps, Kyoka or any one else she seemed to have made friends with. He ran a hand through his hair, at least the girl was thinking somewhat rationally about who to bring with. Iida was not likely to go around telling her family business, and probably wouldn't be too nosy. Hopefully though, there wouldn't be any trouble at all while the teens were out.

There'd better not be any either. He needed his sleep, not another problem child to worry about.

The two teens were, by now, well on their way to the little burger joint, within an easy walking distance of UA's campus grounds. Iida wondering the same as his teacher since they were still in a dead silence. "I am honored you asked me to come with you, Stone."

Alarice had to sort of shake herself out of her thoughts to respond to him. She gave a lopsided smile and a forced shrug of her shoulders. "_Thank you_ for coming with, I know it's a family thing so it probably is a little awkward to go with me."

It was really awkward but Iida wasn't about to say that. Not after how weird she'd been during Parasus's visit, and their conversation afterwards. "Not a problem at all!"

She let out a laugh of a noise, and looked to the ground. Their conversation stalling out again, the street and sidewalk being only lightly busy. Allowing their footfalls to take over in their little space in the universe.

"What should I know about your sister? I don't want to accidentally offend her." He finally asked, not able to tell how awkward it was fast becoming. Not to mention he was about to be put into a Family lunch, with some one else's family.

"Half-Sister" Alarice corrected again, Iida giving a quiet sorry as she continued "As long as you don't say anything bad about Hell-hound quirks, dogs or really anything negative about something that's dog-like, you'll probably be fine." She gave a casual shrug, not sure what else to warn him about. Most of the things Parasus was going to say or talk about probably were things he wasn't going to get. That was fine.

"She might be a little testy about me having a buddy, but I'm pretty sure I told her that UA has the Buddy System now." Iida just nodded in response to that, it made sense and that was just going to be the way it is. He wanted to ask if they were half-sisters by her mom or by her dad but he didn't think he should.

A lot of questions danced around his head, that he was pretty sure weren't polite ones to ask. Though he had doubts about the relationship Parasus and Alarice had, there wouldn't be much he could do for them.

They arrived at the place, and sure enough Parasus did seem a little put off that Iida was there. She seemed to let it go pretty fast, or at least, long enough for them to get food. The three sat outside, at a little table with chairs in a sort of park. "I'm happy my little sister has made some friends. She always had such a hard time making any kind of friend back home." Parasus commented, reaching over to pat Alarice's head like she was a little dog.

"Er, she's a good classmate." Iida said, completely unsure of how to respond, and trying to be respectful. "If I may ask, how far apart are you two, in age I mean? Ma'am."

Parasus made an unreadable face, then grinned. "8 years apart, barely." She ate a french fry before answering any more. "It's a big age gap, but it meant I took care of this little pup a lot, when we were younger."

Alarice nodded, she hadn't said much of anything, all meal, letting Parasus do all the talking. Wolfing down her food like she was afraid it was going to get taken away. "Do you have any siblings, Iida?" Parasus asked, eating more fries right after.

"Ah yes, I do, I have an older brother myself." A touch of pride entered Iida's voice at that, very fond of his older brother. Though he is face looked a little sad for a moment. "He's a good brother, I'm looking forward to see him again."

The other two girls nodded, and Alarice felt a little bad that she'd never really asked him anything about this family in any kind of detailed way. Maybe she could ask him later about it, he did say he was from a Hero family.

Food and conversation continued, lightly before Parasus spoke again: **"Alarice I do need to talk to you Privately, you know."**

Alarice flushed, and looked over at Iida, then to Parasus. Surely Parasus understood that they did teach English to kids Japan, didn't she? She couldn't just...?! Alarice tried to salvage for her sister's rudeness. "Um, Iida, do you mind, if we speak privately? Me and Parasus?"

"We're supposed to stay together." Iida said with a very firm, matter of fact tone in his voice. Not to mention Parasus was giving a particularly intense, gaze, to both of them. He was apparently welcome to sit in on a meal but he was no longer wanted around.

"It's a private, family matter." Parasus added in, now fixating solely on him with her own eyes. There was something about it that made him want to argue.

"It's UA's rules."

"UA doesn't respect a family's privacy?" She pushed again, Iida looking as stiff and determined as ever.

"It does, but-" "It's a very private, family matter about our father and as polite and rule-abiding as you are, young man, I simply am not comfortable sharing it with a stranger." Parasus's tone was almost legal in the way it came out. No arguments allowed, the law of the land, family matter only.

"Whats.. wrong with dad?" Alarice asked, looking desperately uncomfortable. "Is he okay?"

"See? Now do you Mind?" Alarice had already stood up, all concern and worry now, ready to follow her sister if it meant something about their father. "I'll uh.. I'll be right back Iida, I promise."

With that, he found himself unable to stop them, though he wasn't going to not follow the rules. So he quietly followed after them, trying to keep out of sight and not listen-in, too much.

"**Is Dad okay, Parasus? did he have another fall?"** More questions poured out of Alarice, in quick succession. She was fiddling with her hair.

"**Yes."** Parasus said carefully, pausing herself to fiddle with a leaf on a bush. **"I think he might have been attacked by the group that's been hunting us."**

"**but.. is he okay now?" **

"**He's okay for now." **Parasus took a deep breath and faced her little sister.** "See, this is why I need you to come with me. No one can keep you safe from this, but other hell-hounds."**

"**..." **Alarice fiddled with her hair more, before taking a deep breath, but not looking at her sister.** "I really think its better if I stay in school, Sunshine did a lot to get me there." **

"**Fuck her and her golden ass, she's just worried about keeping promises to mom."**

"**She's our godmot-" "No. She's **_**Your **_**godmother, because **_**you**_** didn't think **_**you**_** should live with other hell-hounds."**

The dark haired teen didn't have any response she was willing to say to that. It was pointless to argue against that. It was probably true any way, given that she had never made any attempt to meet any one else with her quirk. Especially in a world where that was rarely possible at all to know people with the same quirk as yourself. She felt anxiety that she only felt around Parasus creep in, but she did her best to swallow it down. **"I'm going to stay, Parasus, I'm staying at UA. I'm working really hard there, I'm not going to waste all that effort." **

The answer clearly did not please her sister, who reached out and put her hand on the back of Alarice's neck, gripping it. Pulling her sister closer to her. **"Why, so you can keep pretending that anyone is going to let you run around and pretend to be a Hero? Hell-hounds' aren't Hero material, we're**_** hounds. **_**We're our own thing, and we don't need the validation of stuck-up, spandex wearing idiots.****" **

"**That's not how it works, Parasus, I want to help people!" **She shifted to get loose from her sister, but her grip tightened instead. Parasus looked around them, cautiously.

"**Yeah? Some help Heros are, there's 20 dead hounds, including a few pups who they just let die, and many more missing." **Parasus dug her nails in** , "I can't believe you'd want to join people who let kids die." **

"**P-"** She didn't finish her sentence, having judged the space clear enough of people, Parasus slammed her little half-sisters face into the light pole, with an awful crunch. Her hand caught the younger's shirt before she could fully hit the ground. **"The problem is, that neither of us really have a choice, because I'm not **_**putting you down**_**."**

Very suddenly, Parasus let go of her sister, in order to duck low enough that the kick that was certainly aimed at her head, missed entirely. She shot a feral glare at Iida as he came to a stop, before baring her teeth in a grin. Taking out one teen wouldn't be a problem, especially while her sister was still stunned. In one smooth motion she had armed herself, and swung her shiny brass knuckles at Iida's face.

He caught the blow on his arm, guarding while he grabbed his classmate, to get her to her feet and out of the way. Managing to get himself only between the sisters, before Parasus's second attack was already on him, going for his open sides. She was a lot faster than he would have thought, though it had been glancing.

Alarice was up now though, Parasus had broken her nose. "Stone isn't going any where with you." he declared, keeping a hard steel glare on Parasus. Both noted that people had been attracted to the commotion "I'd advise that you turn yourself in for assaulting your little sister."

"Picked the most straight edge of the straight edges huh." Parasus gave a shrug of her shoulders. "It'd be nice, but, its her fault anyway." And she took off in a run, apparently not knowing who was she was challenging. Iida spared Alarice a look back, she gave him a hand gesture, and he took off. Semi-literally.

Alarice stayed behind, nursing her broken and bleeding nose, and now throbbing headache from having her whole face slammed into a pole. A passing stranger offered her a napkin for the blood, and she found a spot after giving them a thank you, to sit down. "owch, that looks like it hurts." a familiar voice called. She looked up into Mar's face. "Small world, huh."

"ish your friend here?" Alarice said between breaths, having to breathe through her mouth with her nose busted. Mar shook her head, "Nah, here with two different friends actually."

She thrust a thumb to a pair of twins, paying them zero attention.

"Do you... want me to walk you to where you can get that treated? Maybe some ice?" Mar offered, trying to look concerned.

Alarice instinctively wanted to shake her head but stopped herself. Giving a hand wave instead. "Hafta wait for Iida."

Iida had nearly run to a dead end. In angered shock he had lost complete sight of Parasus. He hadn't been able to use a burst, sure, but he had been more than fast enough to catch up... so where the hell had she gone? His side ached and he began to wonder if she'd done more than graze him. If he couldn't catch Parasus.. she may have found a way to double back to Alarice.

He'd turned around before he'd finished that thought, to make sure his classmate was okay. He didn't find Parasus there, and Alarice appeared to be talking to some one he didn't recognize. She practically jumped up upon seeing him make it back, walking stiffly and quickly to him, holding a bundle of fabric to her face.

"I couldn't catch her she just... disappeared. We'll have to report her when we get back." he stated, slightly oblivious to her new found rush to get back to UA's safety. "Can you make it back like that?"

"I can make it." Alarice stated, "I don't want to shee any more surprise visits from family and I can't shmell a damn thing now." breathing through her mouth fairly hard, sticking close to her friends side. They left and time didn't seem to matter as they headed back as fast as possible to UA. Her head was pounding and she found herself trying to lean and walk at the same time.

As they got through the gates, a sudden panic made the pounding in her head worse. "I... don't know if we should tell any one."

"We are going to." the firmness in Iida's tone surprised her. He looked at her as harshly in the eyes as he had Parasus. She half expected him to grab her and drag her, but he slowed down instead.

"but.. what if... they kick me out..because of Parasus?" Alarice returned, eyes pleading, processing the events that had happened in full.

"You will be expelled, if you _don't _say anything." He didn't waver from his commitment. He softened just a tad, trying clearly not to be to harsh on her. "I can't and won't, lie for you Stone. This is something that has to be reported. You and I need to tell them _everything_ that happened."

000

What had he said? What had he definitely hoped despite being a realist, what would not happen?

This. This is what Aizawa didn't want to have happen.

However it had happened, and nothing could be done about the past now. He'd been alerted that two of his students had returned and were being taken straight to the Nurses office, and that authorities had already been contacted. Essentially as the kid's guardian, since they'd become a boarding school he headed over to get the story as well.

He sat in for Iida's recounting of the situation to the officer, who already had had the boy's written account for documentation of what had occurred. Once Iida was done and left, he followed only far enough to collect Stone from Recovery Girl. As he neared the door he could hear them talking.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be so much trouble." Alarice said very quietly, while rolling the Pez around in her hand that Recovery Girl had given her.

"I know you aren't, Stone." Recovery Girl patted her leg gently, Her tone was soft, and gentle "Some things, just happen."

He cleared his throat to get their attention, Stone jumping at his appearance. She was somewhat hesitant to leave the safety of the nurses office, he noted. Aizawa, nodding to Recovery Girl as he left, following behind his transfer. She said nothing to him as they walked, and was brief even with the Officer. Though she handed over a 4 page deep recounting of the events. Clearly she had a lot to say about the situation and Parasus.

"Do you have any knowledge of what your sister may have been talking about after she assaulted you."

"No sir."

"Her last comments sounded like threats, what do you think she meant?"

"I... don't know. She was always very distrustful of the government, especially back home... she always wanted to be around other hell-hounds, I think that's why she left the states, its probably related to that."

"Why would she leave the states to be around other Hell-hounds?"

As Stone sat there stiff as a board explaining the non-association ruling in the states against hell-hounds gathering, or even living together if they weren't direct family to each other. Aizawa saw that child he'd met the first time. She had grown and changed a lot since the avoidant person she'd been when she'd started. The stiff, tense posture, the fidgeting and the occasional darting glance to the door, were all back now. He really wanted to shake her and tell her she wasn't in trouble, herself. The reasoning of his thoughts told him it made sense, given the history she had with schools previous, that to her, there might be real reason to think she was going to get thrown out now. After all, the files provided from Sunshine, had stated that there had been two incidents of assault previous, that ended with Stone having to leave the schools.

While it made sense to expel one student for attacking another, keeping the assaulter and getting rid of the victim was completely illogical to him. So much so that when he had read the files, he had his own doubts about the reports. Now though, all of the incidents he'd had to deal with, regarding Stone, had been pretty cut and dried about who was the victim. Outside of some wild parkour and avoidance of social situations, she wasn't a bad kid at all. She definitely did not go around looking for trouble.

"Do you know where Parasus could be now?"

"No.. I really don't... I didn't even know she'd come to Japan till she showed up." The detective taking the information nodded to her, and then to Aizawa. "We'll do our best to keep you all informed if we find anything else. "

Just like that, it was over, and his student hadn't relaxed in the least. Instead he noted, she had curled up on herself hiding her face. This was new, and he reminded himself, this was a nearly 16 year old girl.

"Stone, are you okay?" It was a stupid question, he knew, but he'd asked it all the same, offering her the ability to just talk to him. Though he doubted she'd take it. "You aren't in trouble."

She pulled her head out of her hands, and despite trying to hide it he could tell, she was trying not to cry. Stone didn't say anything, turning to look at him, some suspicion in her eyes but she didn't say anything still. She looked pale in the face as she visibly tried to force herself to relax. There was a long quiet that stretched out for a moment, before Stone quietly just said "I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei."

"You don't need to apologize to me, Stone." He said softly, giving her a single, soft pat on her shoulder. "_I'm sorry _that this happened to you, but I'm glad you trusted us enough to report her properly. I know its not an easy thing to do." Not that he knew from experience, but the timing of his Patrols meant he had observed the difficulty people had in reporting their family members for real crimes.

"I feel sick." She said very quietly, again, shifting forward.

"Like you need to-" Aizawa grabbed her hair out of reflex before that thought even finished. Saving the long braid before it fell into the danger zone. She'd grabbed the trashcan that was in arms reach, and had heaved into it. For a moment he wished he could close his ears but it was mercifully quick. Still holding onto her hair, he reached into one of his little pouches, to retrieve one of the individually packaged wipes stored there. He handed one to her without saying anything, she took it, remaining equally silent.

He let her hair go, once it was safe, and grabbed the unopened water-bottle that had been on the table. He handed that over after she'd tied up the trash-bag, her face had color now at least.

"You should be off resting in your room, I think." He told more than offered, and his student only nodded. This was nerves, given how she hadn't had this problem after a stranger stabbed her, it was likely to do with her sister. Not just the standard "she's my sister and I can't believe she gave me a minor concussion." kind of nerves either. More of the fear of being kicked out, and a fear of her sister, who of course, knew where she lived. That's not even getting into whether or not her father had been hurt or if Parasus had just used the threat of it to get her alone. Aizawa was pretty sure he would break Parasus's arm given the opportunity to do so. He patiently waited for Stone to stand up. She gave him that puppy eyed look again, albeit briefly, and he let out an exasperated sigh. "If Bakugo can blow up 1-A's fridge, and not get tossed out, you wont either."

She gave him a confused looked but just nodded, still looking perplexed as to why that was relevant. Aizawa had to concede to himself that he just wasn't as good as he wanted at comforting right now. Instead, he spied someone he could easily hand that task off to.

"Yagi, can you escort Stone back to the dorms for me?" He called, catching the lanky blonde's attention. Yagi didn't take long to agree, heading over to take-over for Aizawa.

To his credit, Yagi didn't ask too many questions, but then, he didn't need to know much. Important information traveled fast in UA.

000

The day was still going, a few clouds in the sky as they walked outside in silence. Yagi noticed she had her phone out for part of the walk, and he had to wonder how much he was actually needed.

"Mr Yagi...do you think.. my dad is okay?"

They came to an abrupt stop, Alarice wasn't looking up from her phone, but he could tell, she was trying not to cry. She wasn't entirely convinced that Parasus had just used her their dad as a ruse to make Iida go away. Her voice wavered as she began to explain her self. "I called and texted him, but he didn't pick up and he hasn't answered."

There was a poof of air, as it was disturbed and she looked towards her teacher, seeing All Might's form instead. "Young Stone," he started, tone confident, taking her shoulders, and pulling her gently into a hug. "I'm sure, that with a daughter as strong as you are, your father is _fine_."

There was a little muffled sniffle, and she returned the embrace, though her arms obviously couldn't quite get around his torso in this state. He let go and poofed back down to his skinny size, while Alarice wiped her last tear. He quickly wiped blood off his cheek. "Thank you. Mr. Yagi."

He offered a smile back to her, and she returned it, mostly. Her father still hadn't answered, but it wasn't time to panic about that, yet. The rest of the short walk back to the Dorms went quick, and she thanked him again for the hug. With his job done, he turned, and headed back to the school buildings to finish the work he did have. Alarice headed into the dorms, greeted her classmates, and disappeared into her dorm room.


	19. Memento mori

Chapter 19

"Memento Mori"

Black had an interesting look on her, given her quirk. Making her seem less like a woman in mourning and more like a darkly dressed queen. There were few things she could do, it seemed, that didn't make her seem regal with that gold skin.

She hated it sometimes.

Sunshine had made it back to UA, her phone had been exploding with messages. From UA, from the staff at UA, from Aizawa, and a handful from Alarice herself. The matters she had to attend to had been too serious and grievous for her to answer any of them. She stood in the meeting room with the small furry rat, and a dark shadow who hadn't bothered to say anything to her in the corner.

Probably waiting like the jackal for its prey to die so he could pull it apart for answers.

"I apologize, I had to deal with another emergency at the same time." Sunshine said quietly to Nezu, trying to read the furry mammal's response to that. That something else besides her job and goddaughter was more important. "I.. found my missing sidekick. That had..that took priority sir. I was looking for him, and I found him yesterday evening, just after Stone's incident."

"Ah" Nezu responded. "I understand." He nodded his head, and Sunshine wondered if he really did. Nezu wasn't one to fool around with, the rat's High Specs were no joke, and she was sure he knew what was up already. "I assume that situation is largely resolved then, and you'll be able to talk to your goddaughter?"

Sunshine could only nod, as he continued.

"UA changed to a boarding school for the sake of safety of its students. I would rather not restrict the kids any more than absolutely necessary so I have decided to go ahead with having their IDs being tracked. However its best if they don't all know about this temporary measure." Nezu paused for a second to drink a little bit of tea. "That said, boarding school we are, but you are her family. I can't tell family how to behave, but Stone has had her own string of tough times as of recent, and it would be advisable for you talk to her. As her godmother."

It was certainly odd having your boss tell you to go talk to your 'kid'. Sunshine nodded and took a step to leave.

"Also, Miss Sunshine, Please trust us and communicate more with us on these things. Part of our agreement is that you work _here for UA _and she gets to take classes here. Please remember that before you disappear again."

Sunshine swallowed hard, and headed out of the room with a polite bow and apology again. Heading to the dorms at a brisk pace, before Aizawa made some appearance and questioned her. She'd had enough of questions today. Not to mention with her sour mood, the last person she wanted to talk to was Aizawa. He was clearly suspicious of her, and the last thing she wanted to deal with after finding Prometheus, was more questions, specifically from Aizawa.

She was far too busy now, being Alarice's godmother. She greeted the kids in the common area casually, waiting for Alarice to come down and meet her, so they could speak privately in her room. Alarice was quick to fill her in on the details, once they were upstairs, rubbing her arm between statements and generally looking flustered about what had happened with Parasus. The younger of the two Stones had never been very good at talking about her older sister's antics.

"Surprising that she came to see you, after that fight you two had." Sunshine offered as she finished, her tone somber and not at all surprised. It was bound ot happen, they were siblings after all.

"I know." Alarice added quietly, not knowing what else to add. "I should have known when she invited me to lunch, away from the school, that she was up to something."

"Yes..." A long pause spread out from there, Sunshine, remaining where she was, and looking around the room in silence. An awkward sort of silence settled between goddaughter and godmother. "You didn't want to go with her?"

"N-no, I didn't, I just... didn't think it was right, and we put so much effort into getting me here that I didn't want to turn my back on that." Alarice shifted nervously, unsure of what Sunshine was getting at. "and I.. I still want to be a Hero."

Sunshine looked at her goddaughter, and the way she fiddled with her hair before looking up with the worlds creepiest puppy dog eyes. Guilt hitting her some where in her chest for feeling that. Everyone assumed that the dark sclera and white eyes came from her father, but no, these eyes, they were from her mother. Every time Sunshine saw them, all she could think about, was Miranda, and of course... death. Seeing them be 'puppy eyes' was disturbing in a way she couldn't describe.

It would actually be cute if they had been Jonthan's crystal blue eyes.

The sound of the wind outside hit the windows hard, as the two girls said nothing. Finally, Sunshine asked; "What if... it was safer to be with her?"

"_what?"_

"Hypothetically, what if it was safer, to be with Parasus, than here?" Sunshine asked, fixing her gaze to the wall upon answering.

"She smashed my face into a pole! I had a minor concussion! My nose was broken!" Alarice nearly barked back at her, face turning red from her outburst. She calmed down again. "e-even if she was right, she...Shes... "

She stopped, hearing Sunshine cry for the first time in a while, and was shocked to see tears rolling down the older woman's face. "Alarice." She started, having a hard time with the heavy words. "Prometheus is dead."

"w-what?" Alarice's voice was quiet. "but...he can't be..."

"He is." Sunshine added curtly, shocking the wide eyed teen. Her voice came out bitter, as she continued to speak. "I didn't answer yours, or your teacher's texts, because I was busy cleaning his blood off of my clothes."

She knew Alarice was staring at her, trying to find words, probably wanting to know what else there was to know. "He was found, in one of the nearby forests, chewed in half. As if he'd been eaten by wild animals. Its the same method the people who have been hunting, and killing hell-hounds have left some of their victims. Tooth marks on the spine were consistent with some of the bite marks on previous victims."

"They killed him.. and ate him?" Alarice's legs were shaking ever so slightly but Sunshine turned her head away from her.

"He was still alive, when they ate him." Sunshine was aware vaguely that she was staring into the middle ground, no where in particular. Seeing the sight she had seen the previous evening.

"How do you know…? I mean... maybe." Tears were sliding down Alarice's face, too.

"Exsanguination was his cause of death." Sunshine was looking at Alarice now. "That means he bled to death."

Alarice didn't know what to say, or how to say it even if she knew what, she just stood there, hands gripping her shirt tightly. Tears running freely down her cheeks.

Sunshine wiped at her face, with a tissue. She turned to leave, unconsciously avoiding the unspoken request from her goddaughter as she shifted away. "Thank you Alarice, for letting me talk, and I...am sorry." She headed for the door slowly, contemplating what else to say before she left. "I'm sorry that Hell-hounds are like this." And she left.

Alarice's legs finally gave out once Sunshine was gone, collapsing onto the floor, left to her own misery and pain. Curling up on the floor, before finding her bed to rest her head on, and muffle herself. Crying over the loss, and hurt feelings. The death of one close friend brought back memories of the loss of mother, and she cried for her too again.

After an hours worth of crying Alarice found herself hiccuping a little, and sniffling, laying half on her bed and half off. One of her knees had begun aching during this period but she hadn't moved to alleviate it. Thumping from downstairs finally inspired her to go downstairs and see her dormmates. With a stop at the bathroom first, to clean off the snot and dried tears. She looked at herself in the mirror, now she just looked more like their homeroom teacher.

"Heya 'Rice!" chimed Denki from his spot on the couch, waving at her to get her attention. She sort of stumbled over before settling behind the couch and leaning over the back. "Hey, is something eatin' you?"

"No. I'm fine." She answered, her voice must have come out colder than intended because not only did he look like he didn't believe her, he looked a little wounded. She let out a sigh resting her chin on the edge of the top of the couch. "It's nothing. Really."

"All right. If you say so." He offered with a casual shrug. "Joining me on watching the weather report?"

"Sure." Though she didn't move from her spot behind the couch. There was something calming in watching the weather channel with him, occasionally Kaminari would make some comment or another but she just made non-committal noises in relation. She wondered if Jiro was around, she could use an impromptu jam session, even if what came out of her was likely to be more dark electric than anything cheerful.

"Hey Stone, I'm about to try out some candied bacon, you want a try too?" Sato announced, pulling the raw pig meat from the fridge. She took way too long to answer, she could tell, even though he didn't stop his prep work to wait for her answer. Instead she surprised all of them by getting up.

"No, sorry, I'm not hungry." She mumbled out, heading back to the stairs, over correcting in steering clear of Bakugo's person. Despite doing it to avoid his own eccentric behavior, not being up for dealing with it. She didn't stay to see what they thought of her near shoulder slam into the wall.

She did not return downstairs for the rest of the day, and answered her phone in single word answers. A brief up-beat to her day was the E-mail she received from her dad, telling her that his phone had been stolen, and he was getting a new one soon. That was about all she could be bothered to do, before she fell asleep on her bed.

Monday was an uneventful class-time though she didn't feel like eating all day, and she would barely remember it later. She managed to slip under the radar of reminders since she largely stayed on-task all day.

Though her dreams were not kind to her, Monday night.

Her dreams were rough, but this was not news. It was a running joke in her family almost. They were 'werewolves', so their dreams were sometimes the stereotypical werewolf dream. Running wild in the woods, or grasslands, hunting. Taking in the smell of freshly torn up earth, wood, grass, some flower in the distance, and the coppery twinge of blood. The metallic and sweet taste of meat and blood, raw and fresh. Sometimes, if the dreams were particularly strong, there really was a lingering smell, not just the idea of them smelling.

Thusly it was not new to be running, full pelt, clearing leaps with ease this night in her dreams. The smells were strong this time, and she was thrilled to be on the hunt again. Elation in her heart with each leap, and intake of breath as she bounded around the trees. She was gaining on her prey, and she could see it now!

It was an old woman she was hunting.

That was new.

She woke slowly with a dizzy, nauseated feeling upon emerging from her dream. Not to mention she felt wet, her shoulders her legs, she felt wet all over, and cold. Covered in cold sweat for sure, but when she tried to inhale through her nose she knew that was a mistake. She felt blood run down the back of her throat. She must have hit her nose in her sleep, not unusual, but the nosebleed's extensive amount was.

It was all down her front and, looking back, it was streaked all over her pillow, too. Much of it was dried, and as she touched her face, she realized that a considerable amount was dried there, and in her hair, also. The shock of it had her nearly falling onto the floor, and when Alarice stood up, she was hit with immense vertigo. Tottering she barely acknowledged the blaring alarm, stumbling past it. Heading for the bathroom, only to puke into the toilet as soon as she got to it.

It was red and brown.


	20. Stones and Blood

Chapter 20

"Stones and Blood "

Jiro had noticed the emptiness in the classroom, quickly. Stone, even while using doors now, still tended to move around as she wanted, but it was still weird to not see her there before them. "Pikachu, have you seen 'Rice?"

"No?" Kaminari gave her a raised eyebrow, as if he would know. He didn't follow the girls _that_ closely. The two turned to Momo, who had just walked into the classroom herself. "Momo, have you Seen 'rice?"

The taller girl shook her head no, realizing that she had taken the other's existence for granted, she'd automatically assumed Stone was already there. "I'm sure she'll be in before she's late." She reassured the others, before taking her seat.

Classroom conversation hardly involved Stone after that, going into discussions of homework, some TV shows, and a few other subjects for the few who had seen family that weekend. The noise in the room rising into its usual pre-Aizawa cacophony, one that quickly muted itself with the entrance of their teacher. Taking stock of his class quietly and noting the empty seat on his own. "Has any one seen Stone?"

A few no sirs, a few silent shakes of their head as the class confirmed they hadn't seen her yet either. Odd given that they lived in the same dorm, but not unreasonable given her person. "We'll start without her then."

And he did, he wasn't going to wait for one student's tardiness. However as his students went into their morning work, she still didn't show, and as the schedule had them going to their first classes of the day she was still absent. Finally now that he wasn't in front of his students, he took the moment to look at his phone for an answer.

There it was; she was with Recovery Girl in the Nurses office. Sick apparently. There was a follow up note that he should come talk. Talk to Recovery Girl at least, she apparently had some concerns. Well now was as good a time as any seeing as he wasn't needed at the moment, and his grading was light and do-able during his lunch.

So he headed down that way to the Nurses office.

Someone else was recovering, sleeping away whatever their issue was, another had the curtain drawn around it, and presumably that was where Alarice was. The old but immensely capable Recovery Girl found him, herself. They made eye contact as he gently knocked on the door way, before coming in.

She nodded to him, "Stone showed up this morning with some help, complaining of vomiting. She was dehydrated, and had managed to have a severe nosebleed at some point during the night. She's thrown up once more since coming in."

"Alright, so she's sick, sounds pretty bad." Aizawa commented, looking for why she was still there or if there was more.

"It's not contagious, it looks like it was just severe dehydration _and _a severe nosebleed. " She gave him a look, to fight off his own. She was the medical professional here. "Blood from a 'nosebleed' can travel down the throat, and into the stomach, which can, reasonably, upset it. Likely that was why she was throwing up at all, which made the dehydration worse... It's a vicious cycle, dehydration." She paused for a moment, at the noise from said sleeping patient, but she wasn't awake. Still deeply unconscious, curled up on her side. "I wanted to talk to you because, I'm concerned it might be stemming from stress."

"Stress? So call Sunshine." Aizawa asked, raising eyebrows, and looking otherwise stoically at Chiyo. The elder gave him an almost withering look for the suggestion. He let out a breath. "If she's not taking care of herself from stress then that's a problem."

The elder offered no differing opinion on that, instead raised a thought. "Its only a theory, but she is going through a time even an _adult_ would find difficult. What she probably needs, is some support, is her family not reachable?"

"Aside from the one that smashed her face, its just her father, back in the states, and he's wheelchair bound." Chiyo gave a sound of acknowledgment. Aizawa let out a deep sigh, he wasn't the emotionally supportive type, he'd never needed it, so often he found it hard to give it.

"Sunshine is her godmother, she should be taking care of Stone's emotional needs." He added

"Well, despite that woman's official roll, I'm not sure she's the one for the Job." The tone she took when talking about Sunshine surprised him. Only a little. He had his suspicions, as did Mic and Midnight after hearing Mic talk about her. He chalked Chiyo up to the list of people who didn't like Sunshine either. "Someone else, needs to be there to support this child, or she's going to crumble despite all her efforts, _and yours_."

"So you messaged me instead of her." Aizawa grumbled out, mulling over ideas and curious to know what made grandmotherly Chiyo decide that even Sunshine wasn't good enough.

"Oh I messaged her too, she just never responded." Chiyo grumbled out, uncharacteristically annoyed. Likely she'd learned that Yamada had stayed with her overnight at the hospital, instead of Sunshine. Now she was sick and sleeping off whatever it was she had given herself. Alone again, except for himself and Chiyo.

"I don't know what Miss Sunshine is doing, but she has been decidedly absent from Stone's life since she brought her here. I understand we're a boarding school now, but she works here at least as a temp, She could be bothered with trying to be a little godmotherly to her god-child. She practically avoids her." Recovery paused to relax a bit. "Unless she has to talk to her, like informing her of the new rules, and apparently to tell her about Prometheus dying."

"She was asked to talk to Stone because of the incident with her half sister, not to talk about the death." Aizawa said, very calmly. Chiyo nodded next to him.

"Well I don't know what they talked about in detail but apparently the focus was his death, and I understand that the loss of a partner is very hard …" She stopped, and took a deep breath to calm herself and refocus on her goal. "My point is, she's taking on a lot on those young shoulders and she needs support."

Aizawa was quiet for a moment, considering his options. Chiyo wasn't entirely wrong, though he would say that if Sunshine was being emotionally neglectful, then Stone had, so far, done amazingly well. Though their initial conversation about Stone did not suggest that Sunshine didn't care about her. She had gone to great lengths... his thoughts paused. Suddenly he noticed glaring details that did not sit well with him. "One of the staff maybe? An adult willing to lend and ear?"

"Potentially, why not yourself?" She suggested.

He shook his head no, then added on to the head-shake; "She's still to guarded around me."

Recovery Girl nodded her head, knowingly. "Then Perhaps Yamada or Nemuri would be willing." Aizawa cocked an eyebrow at her for suggesting his two friends. "I'm not suggesting them because of _you_, They're both capable people who have waded into the waters of being supportive ears to the wounded."

"I'll ask them." He said simply, wondering which of the pair was likely to take it up. Mic, Yamada might not be bad, but Stone was a fan of him, and might be the worst option possible.

"I've got her for now, she should be good and hydrated by tomorrow." She reassured, patting the foot of the bed for emphasis. Aizawa nodded, and left, Letting Chiyo get back to her work.

He let 1-A know that their missing classmate was simply with Recovery Girl and nothing terrible or drastic had befallen her. Which seemed to relieve a few of them. They wrapped up their school day as normal, giving Momo Stone's work on the idea that she make sure her fellow female classmate get them as soon as possible. Which She readily agreed to, and that was that.

His temples gave an ache as he headed back to his own apartments. Grateful, a bit, that he wasn't going to be on patrol tonight. He had far to much on his mind with this many kids in his care. He was pretty sure Mic wasn't going to say no when he offered the 'job' to him. He was also sure Nemuri wasn't going to say no either, however Stone's interactions with Nemuri had often been like his. Awkward, guarded, and unsure of the woman's intentions, which when he thought about it, he couldn't really blame her sometimes.

000

"Are you sure, Sho'?" Yamada asked, continuing to rinse Aizawa's hair. Some one had to take care of Shouta Aizawa's hair. "Not that I'm saying no... just,... do you think that would work? "

"Do you think it wouldn't?" He asked back, eyes closed, leaning into Yamada's hands. "I thought you two talked to each other."

"I don't know if it would, is all." He continued, now he was definitely just playing in Shouta's long black locks. "She's been... well she's been kinda weird, really cagey. Not that she was a Chatty Cathy or whatever, but just, kinda distant... you know?"

"No."

"Think Todoroki" Then Hizashi made a face Aizawa could practically hear. "Why are we even talking about this in the bath? Don't you ever turn off from work?"

"Turn around." Aizawa grumbled out as he shifted positions, so he could return the hair washing favor. Yamada making some sort of snorting noise and complying. Aizawa did enjoy washing Yamada's hair of all the heavy duty product it had to endure at the end of the day. Yamada just enjoyed how surprisingly gentle those rough hands could be. "Because its important. Now, do you want to help or not?"

"Sure, sure, I'll help out."

"Good, going to ask her to come talk during the lunch period tomorrow."

Yamada let out some noise, perhaps in language Aizawa didn't know, and he didn't care. Allowing himself to become absorbed in the activity of washing his boyfriend's hair. Forgetting for a time about the issues of his students. Midoriya, Stone... Bakugo, he let the thoughts go for now.

Their bath continuing on without interruption after that, instead turning to (surprisingly) quietly enjoying each other's company. Yamada yawning wide once they were done, toweling off. Following Aizawa out of the bathroom, and into their bedroom.

"How are we doing that lunch thing tomorrow? Are you leaving it to just me or? " Yamada asked again, putting on a loose shirt, feeling a little to chilly for the night. Aizawa looked at him, looking dead tired of hearing about the kids, since his job on that front was now over. "Right right! Bedtime. Got it."

"I'll be there, if not, I'll be close enough to hear..." Aizawa grumbled out, before almost collapsing into the bed as if he was now in a liquid state. His big cat meowing at him from the corner for disturbing him. Yamada paid the cat no mind, snuggling up right against Aizawa, who just lazily lifted one arm to rest over his noisy boyfriend. "**Ah yes, I get to be the little spoon tonight.**" Chuckling to himself, upon hearing Aizawa huff into his hair. Covers pulled over next, as the two got attempted to get comfortable, around their cats. Cocktail sleeping somewhere near Hizashi's arms, and Aizawa's cat trying to sleep on their shoulders.

By morning, Hizashi's cat, Cocktail, was nestled under his chin, purring happily while Aizawa's big cat mowed angrily to be fed. Allowing Aizawa to sleep longer, Hizashi got up, to take care of the cat. Carrying Cocktail with him like a plush animal. Close to his chest, and being petted and cuddled all the way into the kitchen where he proceeded to feed both of them their wet food breakfast. Settling into his spot at the table while the coffee maker did its morning job and Aizawa managed to slowly wake up.

Time for school.


	21. What does snot do to leather?

Chapter 21

"What does snot do to leather?"

It was hard to tell what Alarice wanted, so much so the Hell-hound herself didn't know what she wanted. Maybe have a good fight.

She was glad that she could finally get back to being a student again, or pretend to at least, just be a student. The nagging feelings of the weekend itched at her, and she was filled with guilt about missing an entire day. Even if she had been both assured that she was allowed sick-days, and also chided to take care of herself.

The metal water-bottle with little radiating flowers, that sat near her chair, was proof of that. Her dead silence was evidence of another.

She'd spared few words, and those had been limited to the few classmates she considered enough of a friend to say anything to. Mostly "Hi" "good morning" and "yes I'm fine, no I don't want to talk about it."

She had no business burdening people with her grief, when they were by the nature of being around her burdened with her. Maybe this was why so many other schools and students in her past had, had issues with her. She let out a long sigh, and practically jumped into the rest of her suit. Still wearing the bare minimum of it, under her uniform at all times. Now she could work on what she really wanted: getting stronger, better.

Working in the forest field today, Protecting a Target, a lot like capture the flag really. She was amused at how often their different exercises were so often variants on games.

Sero kept his laughter to himself but a smile still spread on his face, hidden by the helmet as her ears began to swivel around. Following sounds he couldn't possibly hear. Tokoyami was not so taken with this, keeping a watchful eye.

"I'm not picking up anything," She said, keeping her voice very low. Her ears shifting back to human ears so quick and gracefully you'd almost miss it if you blinked. "I'm ready, Tokoyami?"

"We'll protect the flag of our team." He said equally quietly. She nodded in response, and Sero gave her a quiet thumbs up, before shuffling his way into the underbrush, ready to back up either teammate at a moments notice. While Alarice, managed to blend herself into the foliage silently, barely disturbing a leaf.

Looking for scents proved that, at the very least, as she forged ahead towards the other team's flag and grouping, that Asui was here. In fact, 'she' was every where. She put her scent on many, may things. Only in her were-hound shape could she pick out differences. She shifted herself back down to her human shape before even her bulkier were-hound shape was seen.

Everything felt clearer now that she was out in an exercise. It was wonderful, it lifted her mood, just a tiny bit.

A soft rustle in the leaves, she automatically lowered, kept more still, kept her eyes open, alert. Both she and Asui were likely to be playing the sneak. Leader or not, which Asui probably was, both of them were stealth and ambush type fighters. Despite the fact that for Alarice, it was the equivalent of a Clydesdale suddenly appearing.

It was a force of will to keep herself sneaky this time, however. Itching to start a fight, as she crept along. Speeding up as she found herself very quickly on Sato's location. Good baker or not, Alarice found herself not at all bothered about taking on her brawler-esque classmate in a fight.

It was sort of satisfying, as short of a fight as it was.

Their little fight hardly lasted any amount of time, even with a boost from sugar. Were-hound was a bit too quick for him. Managed to capture, tape one leg to one hand, and left him at that for now. The forest erupted into sound as the two teams were alerted and now active. She was confident Tokoyami would be able to defend on his own, especially with Sero to back him up.

She moved quickly, since time was of the essence, making it to where Froppy's team had their flag. Realizing that she was basically here, and there wasn't a single sign of Shoji from her view point. He was probably still somewhere. It was make a move or hang out waiting the whole time.

So she did, The were-hound form popping from the bushes quickly, skull head and all, and went for the Flag. Before her fingers could brush fabric she was tossed heartily to the side by Shoji, bouncing off a bush before regaining herself. Their stare-down was silent and short lived, before she launched herself back at him. Biting down onto one of his spawned limbs, to make him let go of her. Grabbing the flag with her tail, kicking the web of flesh between his arms with a back leg, and throwing herself into a run.

The dirt was torn up by her run, and she was soon faced with a choice: Run for her own base and go for speed to claim the win, or, challenge Tsuyu.

Fight of course. Flag still waving behind her tail as her feet tore up the dirt, as she went in for a pounce on Tsuyu. The frog girl dodging deftly, taking advantage of her smaller size and greater dexterity. Alarice shifting mid-launch into a were-hound once again. Turning and keeping up with Tsuyu. who made of course, multiple attempts for the flag carried in Alarice's tail. As well as kicking her in the face once. Or twice. Alarice returned the favor to Tsuyu's right hip, getting caught up in keeping Tsuyu from taking Alarice's teams' flag to her side.

If it hadn't been for her teammate Sero's tape catching both the flags between the two hero trainees, her team wouldn't have won.

As their group headed off field for it to be reset for their classmates, and also to let them receive any healing they may need, Stone apologized for the bite she'd given Shoji during the fight. Though he seemed to take it in good humor. Making a comment that it was good her teeth were clean, given the small amount of punctures she'd put in his arm.

As their class came to an end, Aizawa requested she join him, to talk in private, during lunch.

So despite how well her hero class had gone, she shifted anxiously. As she headed to meet her teacher, on some level terrified she was about find she was going to be going elsewhere. She really hoped not, having friends was really nice. She settled herself in with her food he'd told her to get first, confused still, and worried. She nibbled at it between moments.

"Stone, first, this isn't about your window escapades, nor am I -" "Sorry I'm a little late!"

Mic did his best to slip in without being louder than his entrance, but it was far to late for that. The withering look from Aizawa was enough, as he tried to quietly settle himself in across from Stone as well.

"Mic's here as emotional support, " Aizawa grumbled out, Mic nodding happily, a cheerful smile on his face. "And, as I was saying-"

"Is it because I bit Shoji?" She asked, cutting him off, and immediately regretting it.

"No. It's not about you biting Shoji. Just.. don't bite Shoji if it isn't necessary for you to bite him." Aizawa said, putting his head into his hands. "This is actually to tell you that Parasus Stone has managed to vanish."

"I don't have anything that would help." Alarice's voice went flat, and her hands laid in her lap, still and unmoving. Her breathing remaining calm but shallow, looking a lot like a statue, appearing as if she was made of wood again.

"That's fine, I wasn't asking." Aizawa said, just nodding solemnly not surprised by her reaction in the least. "If she contacts you at all, please trust us with the information as well."

Alarice nodded and Mic couldn't help but tell that Aizawa wasn't really leaving him a spot to try and help this kiddo out. He'd asked him to join in on this conversation after all, so where the hell was he going to come in? "Eraser, how about you go get a Tea or something?"

Aizawa gave him a look, and to Alarice's surprise _actually got up and left._

Still surprised, she jumped a little when he brought his attention to Alarice. "Whew, alright, How are you doin' Stone? Drinking enough water **and all that jazz**?"

Alarice nodded a little, not loosening up a bit for him, either. "Yes. I am."

"That's good, you've seemed kind of wooden as of late!" he seemed to at least, find himself amusing, but still the levies that held back whatever was the issue, remained firm.

"Just trying to stay focused on school, that's all."

"You know, professional Heros get sick too. It's not a big deal for you to get sick as a trainee. You know that right?" He implored, trying to get her to open up, just a little bit to him. Instead he got another nod, and only that. He was getting even less than before out of her!

"Stone.. Alarice, you know can talk to us, if something is wrong, right?" He started again, keeping his voice as soft as he could. "Anything at all. Really."

An uncomfortably long silence blossomed out, and for a moment, she simply seemed to stare at him. Though it became clear she was simply not even seeing him at all. Finally as the silence dragged on her head dropped, hiding her expression largely from sight. "Why... would _you care_?"

Mic was only slightly stunned, but her history with schools suggested this might be her standard outlook. "What kind of _Hero_ school," He began, "Would UA be, if its teachers didn't care about their students? A Terrible one. That's what."

She didn't respond right away but that was fine; "And, I know, that with all that's happened, it probably is hard to trust that's really the case. However, UA isn't about to kick you out for situations you can't control, it's just not our style. Going Plus Ultra is our motto here, and we take that very seriously, even in taking care of our students. Which you are."

He paused to breathe, and also, to see that she was still listening. "As for me, of course I care! Why would I not care about you? Your my biggest fan! "

"It's just a job though." She answered quietly.

"Listen, Stone, There is no part of any of my three jobs that says I have to _care_, I choose to care, probably too much, but hey you know, we can't all be perfect." He gave a sort of comical shrug. "Point is, I care, and I care about you Stone. I might be the Voice Hero, but I can also be the _Listening Hero_. Any time you need it."

"Any time?"

"Any time. Probably not during the show but hey. Right after." He gave an exaggerated wink. He scribbled down on to paper his hero number, sliding it over to her. "I mean it."

"But.. I'm a fan too.."

"And, like literally, the most respectful one I've had in awhile?" Mic gave her a toothy grin while his chin was somewhere lost in that directional speaker. "More Importantly: I trust you., and I meant what I said. If you need some one to talk to, here you go."

Alarice took the paper, considering the number written on it. It was difficult to tell what she was thinking now. Though her eyes and cheeks started to turn increasingly red. "I... I um.. I do.. want to say that.. I'm sorry, I should have said something about Parasus."

Patiently, which was hard, he waited for her to continue on her own.

"I hadn't seen her in a… really long time, and we had a really ugly fight when she left the house, because I wouldn't go with her." Alarice reached up to wipe at something that wasn't there, yet. "She took over taking care of me before Sunshine started taking care of us, after my mother died."

Mic had broken that emotional levy, and the flood water was coming in now. He offered a tissue for the tears that were starting to come down. "Its okay, just let it out." He said softly. There was a long moment, just the sound of the occasional sniffle, and shifting fabric.

"I just.." She wiped at her eyes. "I should have said something, Parasus was always very rough with me, even when I was really little. She broke my arm when I was 7, I should have said she was violent and that I didn't want to see her... It.. had just been so long." the levies had failed tragically and the flood waters were very high. Alarice couldn't stop herself from crying now, a mass of emotions she didn't want to deal with, clamoring out of her for first place at embarrassing her for the rest of her life. She started to curl up on herself.

"Did Sunshine know.. about her breaking your arm?" He asked, after a moment, she shrugged.

"I think so, I don't know. Parasus could be really mean, even when she was helping me out and teaching me how to hunt. That is just how Parasus is. Sunshine didn't kick her out or anything, she eventually just left on her own, that's when we had a big fight, split my lip and everything."

"Ah." He nodded, taking in the information. She wiped at her face and breathed in roughly, taking another before finally it just fell out of her.

"an.. now P-prometheus is dead. He used to help me with my homework.. and give me cupcakes for my birthday, he was like a big brother an... an... he's gone..forever" The tears uncontrollably back, curling herself into an ever tighter ball. After a moment, the startled to uncurl herself. The dark sclera made it easy to see her eyes dart side to side, as if checking her surroundings.

"Stone, do you need a hug?" He asked softly.

"_yes_." The sound of desperation beneath the wet sniffles was heartbreaking.

"Then you got one," He said and began to get his bulky directional speaker off. "I don't want you to put your eye out on this bulky thing." He commented at her tear-filled but confused look, a little humorous smile slipped across his face. It didn't sound heavy when he put it down on the table. "**Come 'ere.**"

With that, she got up, and gratefully buried her face into his shoulder and let her self be embraced. As safe as it felt, she couldn't help bursting further into tears. It would have been wailing if her whole face wasn't buried into his shoulder, muffling it. He did his best to be comforting, for her. Making sure she was actually, also breathing too, between cries. Which she was, and then she began telling him, what Sunshine had told her, about Prometheus's body.

"I-I think it might.." She took a breath, still not really letting go of him. "be my fault..t that he died."

"Shhh no, it wasn't your fault." His green eyes found Aizawas, as the other Hero-teacher stood silently in the door way. The green giving way to a dark, dull grey, as the two looked at each other. He hesitated for a moment, crying student still in his arms. "She shouldn't have told you all that."

Aizawa made a noise to show that he was back, resulting in Alarice jerking away suddenly from Mic's arms. Though he only let her get so far away, before catching her own.

"Stone, it wasn't your fault okay?" She nodded her head, trying to wipe her tears off, while he let go of her, and patted her on the head. There was a quiet thanks he almost didn't pick up. He gave her a little thumbs-up, before they settled down into their seats again. Mic picking up his Speaker, a soft thunk as something tumbled out of his device.

"Is that a bag of Skittles... and a protein bar?" Alarice asked, unable to not voice her confusion at the sudden appearance of snacks. Still wiping her face off.

"Yup!" He tossed them over without question, Alarice catching them immediately. "You can have 'em." He barely finished saying that before she'd already opened said skittles, and was beginning to eat them.

"I'm sorry for cryi-" "It's fine, Stone." Aizawa said, cutting her off. "Its normal to mourn. I'm not going to stop you from doing that. Please don't be afraid to say anything you need to, next time, if its important."

Stone nodded a little more stiffly than he liked, and he accepted that the next few times he needed an answer from her, it would likely come through Mic as a middle-man. Fine, he could accept that, as much as it was a time-waster, some answers, were better than no answers. "I was going to ask before I left, if Sunshine told you about the situation, since Parasus has gone on the run."

"No, she didn't." Alarice commented, still wiping away tears from her face in a hasty manner. With a nod of his own, Aizawa began to fill her in on what it all meant for her, since she was likely still a target. Afterwards, the two men sat alone in the room.

"I assume you heard all of what she said."

"Most of it." Aizawa decidedly taking a drink of the green tea before Mic could. "I can't say this makes Sunshine look very good."

"No." Mic responded, being the quieter one now for a moment. Letting himself sink into the couch, a dark tone seeping into his voice. His usually, upbeat, excited tone was completely gone. "it doesn't."


	22. Testing Anxiety

**(( For spoiler reasons, I'm not going to go into detail about the joint testing arc, so if you have read the arc, hopefully it still works for you, if you haven't, you should, its good!**

**in other news: 5,000! holy shit! 3 Ya'll that brightens my day considerably. I hope you guys can keep enjoying the fic, this chapter is going to be the last one for awhile due to the holidays. Sorry I was late getting it out too. )) **

Chapter 22

"Testing Anxiety "

Alarice was doing considerably better, so was his own... 'teachers pet' as Mic was insistent on calling Shinso, despite all the comments that he stop. The work and involvement was finally bearing fruit for both students. He'd never say it, but he was having little bubbles of pride for both of them, though their finals would be a big test. Having Mic as support for her was working extremely well for Alarice, and she was bouncing back from the issues of earlier.

Aizawa had to admit he somewhat regretted encouraging Yamada to help out Stone. It wasn't that she was blowing up the blonde's phone, far from it. Nor was he being particularly out-of-hand in helping her out, both parties were being perfectly respectful to each other, on close inspection. Even so, somehow Aizawa felt like he'd participated in something terrible. Even if Stone had looked, to a degree, relieved after having someone to cry on, he did wonder if this much contact was good, for either of the individuals involved. There was one too many sly smiles about having his own teacher's pet that Aizawa disliked, and kicked him in the leg for, at the table.

To Alarice the pace had only changed in that, suddenly, she didn't have mandated extra training.

Which, was surprising, but she did take advantage of this "extra" time, to work on her own abilities, anyway. It just wasn't "Aizawa-sensei" controlled or led any more.

To her intense surprise, ( and her relief ) of being on Bakugo's team for what turned out be a joint training exercise... was also refreshing change of pace. She had never considered the boy stupid, but he displayed that he was far more observant than she had initially realized. Covering it up with all that aggressive attitude and behavior that went too far, so as to make it hard to believe he would ever be a hero.

Despite the abrasive speech and attitude, he had lead the team to victory. Alarice had found herself falling into step despite being called Mutt, and even Bitch once or twice. The times he had chosen to rely on her were fitting for her quirk and behavior.

Now, all of the Hero class students were hanging out in the 1-A dormitory commons. Stone found herself being talked to by Jurota, and found herself rather confused on how to respond to him.

"How far can you track a scent?" He asked, his voice deep and she kind of figured a nerdy cave beast might sound like him. "I've been working on mine, and I've got a pretty good 1 mile range."

"That's good." Alarice said, trying to figure how long her range roughly was. "Mine's about the same.. I think. I haven't measured it in awhile though."

"You should, it's important data to have when improving as a hero!" Stone found herself just nodding stiffly, as he began to talk about what he'd managed to do with his, similarly bestial quirk.

"Do you think we could train together?" She offered. "I mean, I know we're in different classes, but I don't think it's against the rules?"

"I've never heard that we couldn't... but we do have different scheduled times for training." Jurota began; "Also what would we be working on? Surely not just _fighting prowess!" _

"Maybe stuff like tracking and memorizing scents?" Alarice just shrugged, and fiddled, struggling to find something to add on. "Sorry it just sounded like a good idea. There's not that many people here with quirks like ours."

"It's fine, that's perfectly understandable! And I'm not opposed if we can work it out!"

The teens smiled at each other, and Alarice remembered she had forgotten to share the news that she had passed her final. Her father would take awhile to answer, though he would, now that he had a new phone. Much to Alarice's relief of course.

Alarice: Hey so 1-A won the training thing.  
Alarice: It it was really weird the whole time.

The Microphone: Heyyyyyyyyy Good Job, Kiddo!

The Microphone: Also make sure you go to bed, you got a big test coming!

:Alarice: Thanks. Gonna try.

Alarice: To sleep

Alarice:Thats what I'm going to try

And his next text was a mish-mash of dogs and blank boxes, because their phones didn't share the same emoticons apparently. Alarice hadn't the heart to tell Mic they didn't show up or work on her phone.

000

Morning brought with it the frustration of cold weather, and her classmate, whom she'd previously been teamed up with, giving her the most vicious glare. Worse than the one right before he'd blown up the fridge during the cryptid hunt. For a brief moment she considered taking cover somewhere.

"What the _Fuck_ are you doing?" He snarled out while Todoroki in front of him, looked back at them, face blank.

"I'm uh... I'm coming with?" Alarice answered, still considering where she could throw herself to avoid being exploded. Bakugo instead whirled to the only teacher currently there, Yagi.

"Why the Fuck does Mutt get to go!?" He demanded, gesturing too aggressively for Yagi or Alarice's comfort, the latter taking a small step back from him. "She can't possibly be taking the fucking test, too!"

"She is." Yagi said, trying to calm the situation down just a little despite knowing it was somewhat fruitless. "Young Stone was also supposed to re-take her test, this was agreed upon as a good-way to test you all together."

Bakugo whipped his head back around to Stone, glared heavily again, and let out a huff, storming over to the car. Todoroki, doing the noble thing and suggesting that he'd sit in the middle between Bakugo and Stone.

000

Enigma settled into their role as a 'villain' for this little act, a little to easily. Then again, the Hero knew, he frequently made himself seem a villain to real villains, to lower their guard. Enigma, who refused an epithet for his name. It would ruin the spell, and he, much like Eraserhead, were heroes who valued their secrets. His quirk was Illusionist, and within a space around him, he could create extremely convincing illusions. He'd once made a man think he'd shattered both his legs, despite standing there perfectly fine. His helmet allowed him a greater range, as well as allow him more subjects he could control. He remained out of sight of the young testing students grouped below.

"Are you ready?" Gang Orca challenged, unbothered by a single new addition to the group.

"Bring it!" Bakugo barked out with a growl, for flavor, to his taunt. Engima, smirking to himself as the students quickly found themselves sliding backwards as the ground caved beneath them and they were dropped into total darkness.

To them, any way; to everyone else very little happened to them. Gang moved into the cityscape to take his position, now that he'd largely vanished from the students' consciousness.

The students themselves were deep in the illusion, dropped down into some underground part, where it was pitch black around them.

Alarice pulled herself back up to a sitting position, ears sprouting out to listen and regretting it almost immediately.

"What the fuck! This is some SHIT!" Bakugo shouted, Tensing as if he was going to go for the closing doors above, but didn't. His voiced echoed off their surroundings, painfully. Alarice put her ears back to normal since she certainly wasn't a bat.

"Who knew they had this much beneath them! So wild!" Camie chimed, dusting herself off as she brought herself up to a standing position. Some one cracked something, and a dull light appeared within Inasa's hands. Glow sticks. Really nice ones, He handed one to Camie, then one for Alarice, who accepted it quietly. He continued the process, only leaving out Todoroki since he had his own ability to light the way: Fire.

"I wonder if it's going to be like a maze?" Some one mentioned quietly, but no one had an answer. The darkness felt heavy around them as with some grumbling that they should stick together, they headed into the only direction they had to go.

.

Lit up by one half-human torch teen and several glow sticks, they found that the environment they'd been dropped into, matched what they saw above.

"Todoroki, kill the flame. If we're underground, there might be gasses that could be ignited. Here." Inasa waved an already cracked and glowing tube over to Todoroki who took it without too much question. Though his face was blank as he took it and hooked it into his pants.

A shift of air had Stone assuming her were-hound shape, listening fervently, and occasionally audibly sniffing the air around them. Her foot-falls were surprisingly silent, not breaking stride to change form, though the glow stick lit her up into a more frightening shape. Especially obvious now, was that her glowing eyes didn't actually give off any real light, they just looked kind of eerie in the dark.

000

Yagi sat in the bleachers of the building, watching the teens below. Their response to whatever the Illusionist had done seemed reasonable, and everything seemed quite calm for now. The soft click of heels signaled that Miss Sunshine had walked over and settled herself into a chair to watch below.

"Did I miss anything?" She asked softly, the soft shuffle of cloth as she got comfortable.

"The start. They appear to be looking for any potential victims." Yagi said, shifting his angle to see if he could note anything else. "Though... It doesn't appear they have anyone out there for that."

"It also seems rather quiet for a test." Sunshine offered shifting her angle as well to see if she noticed anything.

"That's likely because of the Hero they called in for the test specifically. He's made some sort of group Illusion. " He pointed out the man in the well tailored suit, looking like an unassuming but dapper gentleman. "I'm not sure what he's cast on them, but I think they might be in the dark. They lit glow sticks."

Before sunshine could respond to him, there were several popping explosions, and even what looked like one of Bakugo's 'flashbangs'.

000

Stone, still a were-hound, bound the henchman in the zip-cuffs, handing him off to one of their team-mates. Some tough-looking young man, who held the man firmly. Standing to the side and quiet were a couple of 'civilian victims' they'd found. Just two.

"We need a place to keep suspects" commented one of the others, a young woman with a leaf on her head. Another individual nodded. Stone, and Bakugo were quiet, Todoroki as well but that wasn't particularly new. Though Inasa was nodding enthusiastically, the group was quiet in regards to figuring out where to place their few found suspects. It took them awhile, and another brief scuffle, Todoroki taking down a henchman himself, picking up another suspect not long after that too, before they found a spot.

It was difficult to tell in the dark but with the careful use of Todoroki's fire, a location was set up. Though the lights made them easy to see, the group of students had no intention of leaving the prisoners alone, setting up between themselves a designated zone to protect.

"Hey Mutt, follow me!" Bakugo barked out, and despite the words were already mean, he managed to make them sound meaner. Even so, Stone didn't argue and actually just followed along. The test had been plenty proof to her that for the most part he could lead, even rudely.

"We have defense here covered." Todoroki said though he was pretty sure he wasn't heard. It didn't much matter, he supposed. Inasa in the dark, if he had any feelings about it, didn't show or voice them.

Stone couldn't quite keep pace with Bakugo, not the in the same way, and definitely not in the dark, Thankfully he didn't get that ahead between jumps, and finally came to a stop. She could swear she heard him grind his teeth before the finally broke the silence in an aggressive whisper; "Can you smell that asshole still?"

"Only faintly." the were-hound took a moment, before answering again in that slightly hollow sounding voice. "There's no one close, either. Its just us."

"How many of those whiners we found were real?" He asked.

"None, only the henchmen are real." She answered, he could only see the vague shapes of her ears as they shifted constantly in the dark, listening. Alarice had whispered to him early on, that something was wrong. The first person they had found had no scent. There was some sort of trick afoot. After that, they hadn't said anything else, to avoid giving away the knowledge that the rest of their senses, were being lied to. Bakugo hadn't voiced it, but after he noticed he couldn't smell blood where he knew he should, he knew she was right.

"Then I'm taking out that Trickster dick! Get moving, Mutt!" He managed to growl out and whisper. Stone simply accepting that for what it was, in the dark, and with a big sniff, began to track down the scent of the person likely causing the trick. It only had one place in this area.

000

Enigma had to admit, he was finally really starting to have fun with this group. The Standard Civilian illusion wasn't hard, and he had to admit it was made easier on him when they grouped them together.

Working with Gang Orca, with a coordinated at attack on the main group of kids was exceptionally entertaining. Keeping them on their toes with, to them, very real attacks. Keeping Gang Orca shrouded as much as possible, and of course, making excellent use of the duplicate Gang Orca he'd made. A broad smile across his face as he gesticulated like a conductor to his band.

Maybe he was enjoying this a little to much? Maybe, he thought as he definitely put one of the students down for the count with the duplicate-gang. They had said to make this test tough, and he was going to follow that instruction to the T.

An eruption nearby pulled Enigma's attention away from harassing the main group. The two stragglers he'd been keeping lost in a maze-like situation, they were closer than he would have liked! He set his duplicate Orca onto them immediately. Smirking to himself, before he realized, that they were onto the trick. Not enough to break the illusion completely but as the blond one delivered an extreme explosion, and the other followed past the fallen duplicate, as if it wasn't there, he knew.

These two had figured him out, and hadn't just been out looking for 'stragglers' they had gone out hunting for _him_. Smart kids, though he was probably bound to be figured out soon and given that one appeared to look like a dog... well that explained it.

He focused on the two, creating more unique illusions for the pair, and since one was a dog, he had to stick to a select few things for that one. Thankfully, he'd came prepared, pulling out a bag with a folded piece of gold cloth in it, soaked in perfume. Another contained a few vials to enhance the illusions.

"So you found me." Enigma challenged rather calmly, as the two teens made it up to the roof. Glad he prepared, the one with the skull was downright disturbing, especially when paired up with someone he equally found rather troubling. Before he could do much else, Bakugo was on him in explosive fury. The Sunshine duplicate landed gracefully as she if she'd jumped, the light off Bakugo's explosions reflected beautifully off her shiny body. The Hell-hound hesitated before closing her eyes and charging in, much to Enigma's surprise. She'd decided faster than he would have thought, to attack Sunshine.

Sunshine's duplicate sun-burst the two teens, Both managing to avoid being stunned by the light, in their own way. It dodged away from the snap of the Hound's jaws on her ankle, and pushed Bakugo's attack onto said hound. It didn't seem to do anything to her, but further Enigma's surprise. His duplicate Sunshine, lacking real sunshine to go off in the fight, unlike his Gang duplicate, failed to hold them off, The hound herself, must have realized it first when the scent didn't track with the vision.

Enigma had to focus on these two completely now. The illusion for the others down below would start to wane, as he had to put all his focus onto the pair fighting him. Creating duplicates of himself next to keep them off, and dropping a form of stink-bomb to clog the dog's nose.

000

Alarice was starting to get frustrated with this, Even being paired up with the absolute powerhouse that was Bakugo, this man with his illusions was keeping them at bay. Her nose was on fire with the stink bomb he'd dropped, she was also sure it was bleeding. With a snarl she pounced on the next Enigma she could, as it popped into dust under her paws.

Bakugo was loud and staying focused on the goal: beating this guy and lifting the illusion he'd cast on everyone. Suddenly, to Alarice anyway, he managed to hit the real one, knocking him to the ground hard. When she looked to the ground, there was a soft layer of ice on it, and some of it, she noted, had ended up the 'villain's fine leather shoes, but his clones.. didn't have it.

She scrabbled to pounce on him, shifting her shape to the faster were-hound one. She hit something other than his scalp when she went to grab his head. Instead, grabbing his helmet in her weird were-hound paw-hands. A helmet! She pulled it off quickly, attempting to crush it between her hands. It was almost impossible to do, so she held onto it. Jumping back to avoid the knock-out blow from Bakugo, who was busy shouting "MOVE, MUTT!"

All the Illusions quickly dissipated, light came right back and there were shouts from below from the few students who hadn't known that the 'victims' weren't even real. Back on the roof top, Bakugo left restraining Enigma to Alarice. The pair looked down below, and at the ice that had helped them identify which was the real Enigma in the fight, though it looked like it had been purely accidental. Inasa and Todoroki it looked like, with the others below, had managed to hold their own and defend the "people" below against Gang-Orca.

With his associate down, they were closing-in on the victory. Though there quite a few participants who recovered quickly enough to start working together to take out Gang Orca together. With Enigma secured, Alarice and Bakugo jumped down to help finish the job.

It wasn't long till the test was over. It was now time to find out who had earned their right to hold a provisional license.


	23. Casual Friday

Chapter 23

"Casual Friday"

Alarice walked out of the testing building, a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm proud of you." Sunshine was next to her, walking out with her, having shown-up to see the fruits of their labors. "You did well."

Alarice barely heard her, still consumed in the elated thoughts in her head. All she wanted to do was go dance-out this energy. Or run, or just have a sick jam session. Maybe swim for a few hours? UA had an indoor pool, or maybe she could see how many snowmen she could make before getting tired. It was snowing, after all. "I did."

"Are you ready to head back to the School grounds?" Sunshine began, noticing that Alarice wasn't even paying attention to her.

Before Alarice could answer there was a sharp whistle. Looking up at the waving blond heading over. Even Yagi looked up, wondering if it was for him, as he got the two boys in the car. Sunshine paused to see who it was, herself. Alarice didn't see her face, as Yamada made his way over, manbun looking a little messy. "Hey hey! I made it over as soon as I heard! Congratulations **Pupper**!"

"Thank you, Mr. Yamada." was Alarice's response, smiling back at him.

"Hey, I said you could call me Hizashi-sensei." was his response, a mumbled 'its weird when people call me ' ' under his breath and a cheeky smile on his face. Stone heard it but she just let out a low giggle at his expense.

"First names and nicknames are a little too much aren't they, _Mr. Yamada_?" Sunshine's voice was a little too chilly. Yagi made some comment quietly that he was taking the boys back to UA, not hearing the conversation, and getting waved-off by Sunshine. The trio stood there for a moment.

"Oh, Miss Sunshine, fancy seeing you here!" He grinned wide, hardly bothered by her comments. "It's not that strict, depends on the person, I prefer my first name, especially when I'm not in uniform. She can call me Mr. Hizashi too if she really wants."

"I don't mind it, the nickname, that is." Alarice defended her teacher, albeit, quietly.

"I see." Sunshine stated, before looking at her phone. "So what did you come here for?"

"To offer Stone a celebratory cheese burger?" Yamada asked, giving a shoulder shrug and holding back his tone from being defensive. She was her god-mother, He really didn't have any power in this situation. "If that's okay? It's kinda cold out here, and you're invited too."

Sunshine shifted on her heels, contemplating. "Fine." Though she was looking at her phone again, quickily, afterwards.

"Alright, well let's go then." He commented breath making little puffs of steam as he spoke. He looked over at Stone to see her using him as a winder-breaker. He buried the lower half of his face into his black scarf, but was still loud of enough he could be heard through the fabric. "Come on, let's get you some burgers before you're a puppy dog, buried in snow."

At the comment, Alarice shook the snow from her hair, and followed behind him, almost unaware that they were basically friends, now. She was still a little in awe and worried about her favorite hero looking out for her so suddenly. Not that she didn't appreciate it, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not to mention that knowing he was potentially paying attention, she did have an urge to do her best. BE her best, at all times. Over greasy food, and Stone eating at-least three burgers on her own, she told him all about her test. Sunshine only occasionally cutting into talk about the test, herself.

Getting back to campus, she noted that Bakugo and Todoroki weren't back yet, but that was alright. She spent the rest of the evening in a surprisingly aggressive snow ball fight. UA student snowball fights got really intense, she was surprised Aizawa hadn't shown up at one point, but perhaps he knew he didn't need to.

Finally, it wrapped quietly with hot chocolate and the company of more calm friends.

000

UA campus was quiet for now, as snow had layered the campus grounds in a thick coat of white fluff.

Stone came downstairs that morning to Denki's voice shouting "This is a Cat! Not a Cocktail!"

When she inspected what was up, he was holding a fluffy looking cat, that didn't seem to care about the undignified way in which it was being held. A few classmates looking completely disinterested and only vaguely amused by Kaminari's commentary. It had a cute looking collar on, too. "That's probably just its name." Jiro chided, taking the cat from Kaminari and handing it to Koda.

"Who names their cat 'Cocktail?' " He asked, pointed accusatory at the cat, while Koda offered it food and water. "Sup' Rice."

"Sup... maybe its for the tail? It looks like a cock's tail." Alarice offered, pointing at its froofy looking tail that definitely resembled that of a cock's. She saw Denki's face and cut him off, quickly. "As in male chicken. A Boy chicken is called a cock."

"I know, it's just-" He couldn't stop the face he was making. Alarice looked at him exhausted already. He failed to bury his immature sense of humor and was snickering to himself.

"Whose cat is it?" Alarice asked aloud, ignoring his snickers, to get to the heart of the matter.

"Don't know, Shoji found her outside under a bush, and brought her in." Jiro responded calmly, kneeling down automatically to pet the cat. "The collar's a dead give away that she's someone's pet, but her name tag is barely hanging on, and it doesn't have a phone number."

"ohh.. she's soft, too." Alarice commented, unable to resist the urge to pet the cat herself. Someone took very good care of this cat. Besides the signs of having gotten wet from melting snow, and a few leaves, she looked really clean. "We should return her."

'_I could ask her to walk us to her home?_' Koda signed, watching the cat eat her fill and drink.

"I think that's a good idea." Jiro commented softly, still enraptured in petting the cat. Stone moving back to allow Kaminari to come back over, just to pet the cat again too.

"Really we can't keep her?" He whined, clearly enjoying having a cat in the dorms.

"She's not ours, Denki," Stone said quietly back. "We can't keep her, her owner is probably really worried about her."

"Unless its really far." Kaminari almost dramatically added, only to be countered by Alarice.

"She probably belongs to some one on UA grounds." Alarice said, upon remembering her olfactory memory. She was pretty sure she had smelled cat on someone, but it had been such an unimportant thing the time, that she didn't bother to remember who. Just that she had.

Jiro stood up, and heading over to get her winter clothes on. "We should do it now though. Since it stopped snowing, it was supposed to snow more again later today."

The kids let her eat while they got themselves into warmer clothes, before scooping Miss Cocktail up and carrying her outside, much to the disappointment of a few newcomers to the situation. The snow wasn't so deep she couldn't walk and Koda asked her to show them her home. Which seemed to work as the cat started walking, the teens behind her chatting among themselves.

The cat definitely seemed to meander a bit. Opening the question on if the cat thought the whole of UA campus was it's home. It took a few detours before it before it came to stop in-front of the teacher's building. Many UA teachers lived entirely on Campus now, just like the students did.

"Well it would make sense that she's a teacher's cat." Jiro commented while the other three were quiet.

"Or, she's just decided to stop here, she seemed a little confused." Kaminari accused albeit gently, picking the cat back up again. The cat not even struggling and accepting being held. Koda just gave a shrug, it was possible that he hadn't been specific enough and she considered all of UA her home afterall. "Only one way to find out." and Jiro pushed the little buzzer, since this was a teacher's building.

"Yes?" A calm male voice answered, it sounded like Vlad.

"Its Jiro, From 1-A, We found a cat, can we bring her in and see whose cat she is?" Jiro asked nicely while Stone began to scratch the cat behind the ears.

"Oh. Yeah you can. Hang on."

The little intercom voice cut and in a few long moments later, the door was opened by Vlad, who usually looked most like a dad, as a teacher with fangs could look. His sweater was really helping that image too, it looked hand knitted. "Ah. That's Aizawa's cat." He said almost immediately upon letting the kids into the foyer of the building and seeing the cat in Kaminari's arms. "He's out looking for her, I'll give him a text, hang on."

So he did and they stood there awkwardly holding the cat. Deciding it was better than letting the cat run loose inside the Foyer. A little mortified it was their home room teacher's cat they were holding.

"I can't picture Aizawa putting such a cute collar on a cat." Kaminari whispered.

"or him naming it Cocktail." Jiro added on.

"Um, Sir, can we leave her with you?" Stone asked, receiving a gentle head shake from Vlad. "Sorry kids, I actually have to head out, but he said he's heading back so just hang-" He was interrupted by the door coming open, and Toshinori walking in. Neck buried in a thick scarf. "Just hang tight. Hey Yagi, the kids found Aizawa's cat. Do you mind watching them? I'm about to be late."

"Sure, I don't mind." The blond said, nodding and waving Vlad off. "Cocktail was with you kids huh?"

"Well, Shoji found her under a bush by the Dorm early this morning, we already fed her, and gave her water." Stone answered. While Yagi was careful to remove his shoes, and then scarf and coat. Wearing a t-shirt, with a tight matching long sleeve underneath it. The shirt he had on, had Alarice almost immediately biting her lip to hold in the immediate amusement. "Aah, I was out looking on my own for her, Aizawa will be happy to see she's fine, and taken care of." Yagi added with a warm grin, walking over to pet the cat too, oblivious to Stone's reaction. Or that it had spread to Jiro too.

Kaminari was holding the cat out so Toshinori Yagi could pet her, the cat emitting loud purring at being petted by familiar hands. When Alarice's voice cut through, wavering slightly. "Excuse me, Yagi sir, but, w-where did you get that shirt?"

"hmm? Oh my shirt! I got it when I was in the US. It's old but its very comfortable, why do you recognize it?" His tone was so gentle and sweet that Stone didn't know how to explain that she didn't necessarily recognize it. So much as what the white letters on the black shirt, decorated around it, in abstract, bone-like patterns _meant_.

The combination of three facts made it nearly impossible to not smirk. All Might, admittedly, retired, but All Might, in his currently scarily skeletal state, was wearing a shirt that said; "**BONE DADDY**" .

"y-yeah I kinda do sir-" Stone tried really very hard not to laugh, but she was struggling to find words. Thankfully, Aizawa and surprisingly to the kids, Yamada came in together, stopping her from having to say anything.

"Ah, Aizawa, look who your students found for you." Yagi invited, still petting the top of Cocktails head while she purred loudly. While the pair removed their shoes. The dark haired man didn't say much of anything, focused entirely on his cat. Retrieving her gently from Kaminari's arms. Aizawa was a hard read but he seemed happy to have her back, holding her close to his chest. "Thank you." He said simply. The cat mewed gently at being back in his arms.

Behind him Yamada finished taking off his shoes, and placing them in the appropriate spot, doing the same for Aizawa who hadn't. He was also, notably to the kids who did notice, trying not to smirk or laugh and failing to hide the former. "See, I told you she wouldn't get very far." He told Aizawa, almost deliberately ignoring Yagi's shirt, though he clearly saw it.

"She's been fed too." Kaminari pointed out for the second time, while he and Koda looked proud of themselves. The two girls and Yamada all seemed to be fighting the urge to laugh about Yagi's shirt. Aizawa nodded, having already thanked them, then turned to take her back to his apartment, leaving the group since his job there was done.

"Well, I'm glad she's been found." Yagi said with a gentle nod to the kids, and heading on his own way, collecting his stuff. "OH, and I'm glad you like my shirt, Young Stone."

This left Yamada who stood there in front of the students as Kaminari and Koda prepared to leave. A sharp inhale and put one hand on either girl's shoulder. "Now. Listen you two...," He paused, as his grin became almost manic. "You can NEVER tell him what that shirt means."


	24. The Biggest big bro

**(( this is officially at a point in which the manga and this Fan fiction will deviate completely. Obviously its all been fairly AU, but after this point is 100% completely and definitely AU. **

**EDIT: Suneater has been edited into the fic following this chapter, and a few others, he does not play a major role however. Just thought. "Yeah Suneater is great!" and decided his inclusion could improve a few moments.))**

* * *

Chapter 24

"The Biggest Big Bro"

Entertainment classes were not what Alarice would have thought them to be. They were awkward. They had Alarice feeling weird and out of place, and then embarrassed as she struggled to perform properly. Even if Mt Lady had been plenty encouraging, it had been obvious that even she found the skull-faced, Clydesdale-height hell-hound to be a little on the upsetting side.

She couldn't stop the embarrassed flush on her face afterwards, try as she might to get it to go away.

With a vacation however, came the very real threat for Alarice that she might be leaving UA for good.

On other hand, There were mandatory internships being enforced, so, at least for the 'Break', she'd still be here. Doing real hero work... she had some suspicion that it would be incredibly difficult for her to find an agency to take her on as an intern back in the states. Aizawa surprised her by talking to her one-on-one for a moment before handing her, her sheet of agencies.

"Since you don't have any connections of your own, you should take advantage of knowing classmates who do." Aizawa grumbled out, the bags under his eyes looked bigger than ever.

Alarice nodded to that, knowing she had a lot to ask her classmates. She had taken the task of inquiring seriously. She'd only managed a handful of classmates. Talking to Tsuyu for a good while about Ryukyu, and Kirishima for a bit about Fatgum, and both saying they'd put in a good word for her. Of the rest, she got a few agreements... and became an unwilling participant in hearing Mineta complain about his experience. He made his bed, he could lie in it.

She had come down to see who was down stairs to continue asking, when she was blinded by the seasonal cheer bathing the room. Santa-style hat was shoved on to her head, playfully, by Denki. A little cartoonish-looking dog-skull thing dangled off the end rather than a poof of white. It was cute, and she didn't stop the childish little noise that came out of her.

"Did you forget what today was? Don't worry, we'll remind you!" Denki tried to 'sing' back to her.

"Who made this?" She asked curiously before Jirou just dragged her into the group of kids, most of them already dressed-to-impress in a seasonal fashion. She noticed the tree with the presents underneath, and she started to sweat just a little.

"Doesn't matter 'rice, it's all about giving~!" Denki called from somewhere else, arming himself with another Santa hat. Ashido was offering her a coat of a similar style.

"w-wait it'll be to hot for me in that, plus this... I'll go change upstairs, I'll be right back!" She didn't have anything for anyone.. at all. The coat was a perfect excuse to rectify that, hurrying up to her room to find something she could give. She spied a piece of Present Mic knock-off merch she could part with. She had gotten it for a laugh and hopefully, it would serve the same purpose for some one else. Hurriedly shoving it into a clean sock and grabbing one of her more obnoxious hair ties and tying it off.

She reappeared as quick as she could, Sato bringing out the food, her mouth watering as she placed the hastily wrapped present under the tree. She also noticed their grumpy-faced homeroom teacher there, before she found herself roped into singing, along with Jirou, some Christmas tune she only barely knew. She spied Eri eating with Deku as she sang alongside her friends.

When it came time for them to 'exchange presents' Alarice was handed a strip of tape by Sero. He seemed far too amused with himself, when all of them gave the strip of tape a tug, pulling a unique present to herself. Catching it before it got too close, it being a large sword. She looked at Tokoyami, the only person It made sense to have brought a giant sword. They nodded to each other.

Alarice looked about to see who had gotten the knock-off Present Mic, and saw that Eri and Aizawa ( apparently counting as one person for this.) had received the sock. Aizawa was examining said sock wordlessly before opening it, and pulling out the terrifying knock- off from her.

Eri's eyes grew huge and a smile pulled on her face, taking it politely from the homeroom teacher's hands. She didn't seem to mind that the glasses sculpted onto the figure were completely wrong, or that the hair was orange instead of blond, blending into the poorly matched skin tone, or that the clothing was red instead of black... or that it was, in general, a cheap thing. "It's loud dad!" She cried out, pleased with it.

"Eri... " Aizawa looked like he wanted to just lay down, in fact he looked a little annoyed, even still holding the sock-packaging it had come in. Midoriya came over to investigate what Eri had gotten, clutching his own present to him.

"Oh, Eri that's a knock-off" Midoriya stated looking at the level of things wrong with it, but it was funny, and a smile tugged at him before he let out a little laugh.

"What's a knock-off?" Eri asked, sweet as could be.

"It's.. it means its a cheaper item, imitating another item." Midoriya tried to explain, gesturing at the red-present mic. "See his actual outfit is more black than red, they got the colors all wrong."

"I like red. He's mine." Eri said with a childish level of protectiveness over the figurine. Not really pulling it close, but not handing it over for more nosy investigation by Aizawa OR Midoriya. Much to Midoriya's amusement that she liked the knock off, and the other prepping for the noises his partner was going to make the moment he saw that figurine.

Alarice tried not to make it known too much that it was her sock, and from her, but she was pretty sure from the looks, that everyone knew who had given it.

000

She was riding with Kirishima, so she assumed it had been Fatgum, but it could be different. Sunshine was riding with, as well, but she was dead silent the whole time. She might as well not even have been riding with the two teenagers for all Alarice noticed. The heroine had to be with them since someone would need to make sure Kirishima got back to the school grounds safely, after Alarice was left to her first day of her first internship.

They got off at their stop, and Alarice practically jogged alongside Kirishima who was clearly very excited to see Fatgum again.

"Red! Its good to see ya' again!" The rotund hero, dressed in orange and black boomed as he greeted his previous intern. An empty box of Takoyaki lay on a table, nearby, and the room smelled strongly of it, to Alarice. Fatgum patted Kirishima on the back, the red head seemed to enjoy it, doing his best to return the favor.

"Sunshine." The golden one stated, casually but a note of sweetness to her tone. Shaking Fatgum's hand gently.

"Fatgum, ma'm, pleased to meet ya'." The big guy was notably gentler to Sunshine, Alarice noticed. Perhaps to be respectful to a pretty lady Heroine he didn't know yet. Then, he turned to Alarice and she felt like a rabbit, she had no idea what to do.

He was just, So BIG!

"You must be Alarice! Your taller than I expected! Hah! Taller than Red, here!" He patted her head, too! Alarice was unsure of what to do, he was far more energetic and exuberant than she had expected some one named Fatgum to be. She should have asked Kirishima more about him!

"y-yes, I mean Yes, I'm 8 centimeters taller than Kirishima.." Alarice almost put her face into her hand, why on earth was she still thinking about their heights?! She could feel her cheeks turn red and none of it seemed bother Fatgum "I'm sorry!... I mean... I'm Alarice Stone, yes."

"Hah! It's fine! This would be your first time getting to work outside of school wouldn't it?" Fatgum asked, all smiles and positive energy.

Alarice nodded again before remembering she needed to make a good impression. "y-yes, It is, Sir."

"No need for Sir's here, unless you want to be callin' me 'Sir Fatgum' and that's weird, you can just call me Fatgum. Now, what's your Hero name?" He pressed, with his larger voice that matched his incredible stature.

"Arariel Si- Fatgum" This time she did put her hand to her face, how was she this nervous!? She should be better than this..! No, she HAD to be better than this! His laughter was a bit less boisterous this time, and turning to look at Kirishima, he was smiling too. She felt the flush crawl to her ears instead.

"Solid name! An' ya showed up ready to work I see, too!" He gestured roughly to where the thin black fabric of her undersuit, the neck and legging part of it visible under her uniform. It was hard to not wear it, now that she had it back. She nodded sharply in-response. "It's good cuz we're heading out as soon as you finish suiting up. Can't go out looking like a little school girl, that wouldn't do!"

Alarice nodded and headed off into the gestured direction to change completely. When she came back out, to her surprise, Kirishima and Sunshine were still there. Sunshine was talking to Fatgum quietly, but she couldn't hear about what. Kirishima appearing to have waited for her to change before they left. "Just wanted to give you a final vote of Confidence, 'Rice."

Which came in the form of a fist-bump between the two teens. "Thanks for helping me out."

"It was no problem! Heck If any thing, it's always fun to talk to Fatgum! Kinda sad I'm not working under him again, but, next time maybe!" Kirishima responded, his energy forcing Alarice to smile and nod with him. She gave Kirishima a wave as he followed Sunshine out as the two of them would head to the train-station. Alarice headed over to Fatgum, seeing as she was ready to go.

"All black huh? 's pretty simple." He commented, Alarice just nodding quietly. Keeping up with him easily. "Yer not much of a talker are ya?"

"Yes. Sort of." Alarice said quietly, flushing and trying figure out what she should respond with next.

"That's no problem! You'll get along just fine with Suneater, you'll be workin' with him tomorrow!" Fatgum boomed out while She kept walking, thinking of questions for her ' new boss' essentially. "W.. when did you realize you had a quirk?" She asked quietly in return.

"Ah when I was a this tiny, weenie thing, I was probably about 5. Fell out of a tree, landed funky but I ended up fine." Fatgum explained, with good humor, how had he found so many high potential kids, with so much shyness? "How'd ya learn about yours, Arariel?"

"oh." Alarice didn't actually know how to follow-up on her side. "I .. don't remember. Dad said most.. um" She got quiet around a passing stranger, "Most hell-hounds show signs really early, like.. in the first or second years."

"Ha that's gotta be the cutest sight ever, and a handful all at once!" He had an odd voice Alarice couldn't quite place, it was bubbly but.. like.. Manly bubbly. He continued on his train of thought. "both a Puppy and a toddler at once!"

"Yup." Alarice answered, despite not really remembering, she'd never seen a young hell-hound besides herself, and her dad had some photos but apparently the baby photo had been lost. She tried to picture the weird skull face but puppy-sized and probably a good amount of stupid-looking. Fatgum continued on without hesitation on asking her more questions. Which she did her best answer, and realized he had to have known the answer to most of them, he'd probably been given her file.

"So, hows about we grab a snack? I'm hungry, and gotta keep yourself stocked up too!" Alarice cocked her head to the side, but just nodded, as the big man made a beeline for a small food stall that happily waved him over.

"aay Fatgum! Your usual today, sir?"

"Mhmm, Make it two this time." Fatgum gestured to his young intern. The man at the stall laughed, and nodded as he got to work on the order.

"They're just giving you all the young hero's, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, I love helpin' shape -p these young heros!" Fatgum handed over money to the young assistant, probably the owner's son. Alarice watched the two talk like good friends. She couldn't help but sniff and take in the smells and sounds.

"Ahh she's a quiet one, like that Suneater you got with you, usually." The owner commented, handing over the two boxes of Takoyaki. Fatgum passing the second to Alarice. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Arariel." She was holding the warm box, and the smell coming out was strong enough that she hadn't been noticeably hungry before but she could definitely eat. "Thank you sir."

Food obtained, the food stall worker waved to them as they left. Fatgum settling into a good pace to eat his Takoyaki and patrol. Alarice having a struggle at first before figuring out how to eat it and walk too. Alarice commenting that she liked it as they continued on a rather, so far any way, uneventful patrol. Alarice noting how many people, specifically, food shop owners who would try to flag down her new mentor.

"It's been kinda quiet, huh.." She commented not far behind him.

"It's early on a Monday, it tends to be quieter through here during the morning."

Their conversations were off and on as they went about the day, solving a few small problems, but it seemed consistently that he did a lot of talking to 'fans'. A few people talked to her, by extension of talking to him. A few conversations he pushed her into, including one where she accidentally admitted to being able to break-dance. That followed with a challenge, that was turned down in favor of completing the patrol.

By the end of her first day, despite it being rather smooth and only one guy needing to be dealt with roughly, it was exhausting. She was so tuckered out, in fact, that she barely noticed that Midnight had rolled up in what looked like a giant fur-covered van. The front of it had a freakish looking recreation of a dog's face on it. Including the "floppy brown ears" tacked onto the sides. She could barely make out the words along the side, that said it was a dog grooming van. Midnight was riding in the passenger side, waving at her, excitedly.


	25. A Good Dog

Chapter 25

" A Good Dog"

Her first day of work-study had wrapped so smoothly, that there hadn't been a good 'excuse' for her to even use her quirk at all, much to her quiet relief. Though she imagined that somewhere between paperwork and Kirishima, that Fatgum probably had a pretty good picture of it.

Her next day started quickly.

Fatgum's cheerful and reassuring presence was a force to be reckoned with, all on its own. He was so enthusiastic in his own way about being a hero, and his big size just helped him emanate this protective energy.

All of this was, in contrast to the long-term intern, Suneater, also from UA who was there today. Amajiki Tamaki, their first meeting had been silent, and apparently amusing to Fatgum. Both teens seemed intimidated by each other, before reaching a silent truce. A nod, and a simple exchange of Names, was good enough for them.

People who passed them some times offered a wave and a smile and a few young boys had stopped them earlier in that day for a brief talk that Fatgum just indulged them in, since it was a quiet moment. Alarice just listened, as she had no idea what the show, and toys the kids were showing and talking about, were for. Suneater, like wise stood next to her quiet and unassuming.

"Y'know, it's so nice to have conversational interns with me." Fatgum said as they walked, Alarice looking up at him after catching up a bit to the two fo them. "Relax a little more you two!"

"ah! Well.. I mean I was just thinking..." Alarice started, trying to pick her words. "we stop a lot.. to just.. talk sometimes."

"Sometimes that's what ya do. Sometimes its just talking an' lettin' people talk to ya, as long as you stay alert, its all good." His smile was wide as per the usual. Alarice found herself dragged into a smile of her own. Suneater mumbled something incoherent. "Bein a pro is also about reassurin' people, makin' sure they know they can count on ya to protect them."

Alarice made a thoughtful noise to herself at that, before asking "would it still be that simple with the hell-hound side being seen?"

"Sure, who wouldn't want to talk to a good werewolf?" He let out a chuckle at his own joke, and then laughed again at seeing Alarice's face in response to his joke. She couldn't help but pout just a little bit, before trying to reel that in quickly. "People will surprise ya, Stone."

Alarice looked to Suneater for further input, receiving only a shrug, and half smile that was not very reassuring.

Their conversation came to a quick halt as the day's first villainous activity was spotted. Giant Salamander villain. Combining Arariel's large hell-hound size, and Suneater's Manifest, generating powerful, and fattened up octopus tentacles to get around the slime. Fatgum taking and giving it a few punches that mostly just distracted it, and kept the other two from taking any serious damage. Wearing the villain out till he was forced to power down.

Unfortunately, Arariel, Alarice, having physically, tackled and bit the villain, was covered head to toe in, Salamander villain slime. She was desperate afterwards for something wash her mouth out, and her entire body off and a towel afterwards. For every laugh by a kindly shop-keep and the pro, she could only reiterate that it smelled and tasted terrible. With an increasing smile each time with each joke at her expense. Suneater tried to be reassuring but, all he could really do was hold the hose for her.

The next hours of patrol were more relaxed, tripping one purse thief and helping a few people out here and there as necessary.

The teen began to recount some of the days events to Sunshine as they headed back to Yuuei, only for her to eventually stop when asked to. They ended up taking an alternate route back to the school, after that.

000

Patrols were usually fine. Alarice found, with the knowledge it was okay, shifting into hell-hound not that hard. People did react with fear about the face, till she used it to help apprehend villains and stop problems.

She even stopped a car from sliding off a broken ledge once! With her teeth! That all resolved, they went back to patrol. Till the pair were stopped by a little kid. "I can't find my mom!"

"erm uh well, I can probably track her down." Alarice offered, trying to calm down a crying child. She looked up to Fatgum, who gave her an encouraging nod that she was on the right track. "You can ride on my back while we look for her, if you want. It'll be just like riding a horse... you've seen a horse right?"

The child nodded, wiping at their eyes, and Alarice transformed, going all the way since the crowds weren't so bad, and the added height would make it easier for parent or child to see each other. There were some noises from the people around, but she took a good whiff and she was pretty sure she could find the kid's parent, now.

Said kid was settled up onto her back, by Gum, and the kid was definitely too awed by being on something so big, to be crying quite as much. Alarice noisily inhaling for the parent's scent. Wading through the crowds and keeping up with Fat better than she thought she would, though admittedly, despite sniffing, Fatgum was the one doing all the talking and leading. She was still kinda hiding behind him as they walked.

It didn't take long for the parent to cry out seeing their child, and child to wave back, and also comment that they they were riding a horsie. Fatgum, chuckling, pulled the child down from Alarice's back, while the woman thanked them feverishly. Alarice transforming back into herself, to the child's apparent disappointment.

"Ya worry to much about what other people think of yer quirk's appearance!" Fatgum commented once they were done reassuring the mother and saying 'your welcome' about thirty times. "Ya got good instincts, so we just gotta push back that bad self-image of yers!"

Alarice tried to find some response, while she wondered if the 'Suneater' she'd heard about before, had to deal with something similar...

000

After a quick change back at the agency, Alarice was back in uniform again. School uniform, anyway. Suneater headed back on his own, with a quiet wave and nod to Alarice. Getting escorted, this time, to meet with her escort. The location was a little weird, but lately there had been intentional variety with how she was getting back to school, so it wasn't that bad. They stopped at a local burger shop along the way.

"Time for a re-charge, how much do you want?" Fatgum asked his dark-haired intern, who looked up blankly, for a second.

"like.. how many burgers or something?" Alarice felt stupid asking but it had been a day with some interesting ups and downs. She would be heading back to UA soon, but whoever was coming to pick her up wasn't there, yet. "I mean, I usually get like.. three or four sometimes, but you don't have to buy me food. Again."

"Nonsense, you did good today! Five burgers! That quirk of yours needs to stay well-fed doesn't it!?" Fatgum practically announced to the mostly empty burger shop. The little old lady behind the counter, just smiling away at the announcement. "Ma'am, can we get ten burgers and two large fries?"

"Ten is a lot!" Alarice burst out, but she didn't argue. Again just chuckles and smiles while he leaned up against a wall, to wait. She quickly joining in on waiting patiently next to Fatgum as the food was being cooked up. She looked at her phone briefly as the silence grew.

"I think yer escort is gonna beat them burgers to us. Hah." Fat joked casually, though there was audible grumble from deep within in his rotund body. "I wonder who it is this time."

"I guess.. and uh Same. I guess it changes... I hope it changes. Midnight's dog grooming van is really weird." Alarice commented, as the smell of cooking beef patties wafted out of the kitchen area in thick waves to her. Fatgum just seemed amused and in a good mood next to her, apparently on his own phone since they were technically officially off-patrol now.

As the warm burgers and fries were handed out, both Fatgum and Alarice were digging into their fries immediately to devour the warm goodness of a fried and chopped tater stick. Burgers and fries obtained, and the latter most devoured, they began to head out.

"Ah right, almost forgot to tell ya! Tomorrow ye'll need to be ready that we're going to be doing a special 'assignment'" Fatgum announced, between bites of burger. Even though he finished it in three.

"OH.. what does that mean?" Alarice questioned, taking far less bites to finish her first burger but still wolfing the thing down. She really was hungrier than she had wanted to admit.

"Means we'll be helpin' out a fellow hero at their request. It's not too bad, its gonna be a bit like security detail. Cant' tell ya more than that, yet though." Fatgum said, broad smile again in-place as they headed out. Walking along to meet up with whichever teacher, or if it was possibly Sunshine, was going to meet her.

"Oh..okay." Was Alarice's only response, eating a little slower after the second burger, and the fries now completely gone. Although, by arrival, she only had one burger still completely wrapped up to be eaten later.

As they arrived at the location to wait for her 'escort', it was clear there really wasn't much waiting to do. More like, walk up to the seats under the awning, and see her Homeroom teacher waiting for them. He stood up casually, even though he was largely still uniformed.

"Eraserhead! Its good to see ya again." Fatgum responded with an easy voice, Aizawa just nodding back before responding.

"Fatgum." Aizawa stated, hands going into his pockets again, before turning to his student "Stone, are you ready to g-?" He stopped as Alarice, not sure how to respond had just thrust one of her Burgers at him fairly aggressively. Two hands on either side of the food item, held out waiting for him to just take it from her. It was somewhat amusing to see her cheeks turn a faint shade of pink

"AWW, YEAH **PUPPER**! GIVE HIM A **BURG!" **announced the blond emerging from the nearby building, likely having gone in, in search of a bathroom. Alarice jumping from surprise as Fatgum simply looked over to the loud mans approach. Aizawa caught the burger before it could hit the ground, just holding it for now. Mic made it over, a mischievous smile on his face as he put one hand on Alarice's head. "haha sorry for scaring you! Fatgum ayy!" He shot finger guns at Gum.

"Mic." Aizawa just grumbled over at the other, who just laughed it off without a sign he was even remotely embarrassed about his outburst. Alarice stood there, a little awkwardly, as was per the usual, as a few questions and comments were exchanged. Some she realized were about the job Fatgum had them taking-on tomorrow. Eventually she turned to Mic, who wasn't really any more involved in the conversation either, and started sharing the day to him.

"Sounds like a nice casual mix of things!" Mic responded, pleasantly enough. "That sounds like a rewarding patrol, and that's kinda how you want it."

Alarice nodded. "It was... good. A good day." She felt small, three Pros around her and she knew part of that was because of her sister. She let out a little huff, and started to play with her hair. Till Mic put his hand down on top of her head, and began bouncing it on the thick curls braided together, distracting her from gloomy thoughts.

"Well, hopefully it's been busy enough that you'll go to sleep, listener!" He said, still bouncing his hand on her hair.

"Well... its not Friday night, so.." Alarice said with a shrug a tiny smile.

"Such a loyal **pupper**-listener!"

"You two, pipe it, it's late, and we're heading out now. See you, Fatgum." Aizawa chided the others, and bid farewell to Fatgum, walking himself towards his bland, non-descript car. Mic took the keys, while Aizawa took shotgun, to eat the burger he had been given by his student. Said student curled up on the backseat and went to sleep almost immediately.

She slept like an exhausted puppy, to Mic's amusement. Then he realized how heavy that sleep really was, and it became some what of a minor trial-of-wills to get her up.


	26. There's a party in this one

Chapter 26

"There's a party in this one"

Alarice arrived at the agency for work as normal. Though Fatgum refused to explain what the night job was going to be.

So the day went by as a normal patrol, with the average stopping of criminals. By evening it was time to get 'ready' to head to the job. Alarice following behind, like the dutiful little dog-duckling she was, heading to the large, convention-center sized building. Flags advertising a musical artist's show were hanging everywhere the closer they got, and decorating the building of course.

They headed towards the back of the building.

"Are.. I don't understand, are we going to be bouncers or something?" Alarice asked as they headed into the building, past workers and people setting up for the show.

"Somethin' like that. We're heading to meet up with the other Hero who called us in... or the one I responded to, anyway", Fatgum explained vaguely, a smile still on his face, though the big grin had a mischievous slant to it, Alarice noted. "Heros have a network we can use to ask for help on. Anyway, ye'll find out more when we meet up with the Hero we're helpin out."

Alarice nodded quietly, and continued on their quiet walk, till they got let into a back room, another hero-looking person was settled into the couch. A lady with purplish hair that Alarice didn't recognize at all. She simply nodded politely to the woman, who returned the nod. After a very brief moment an individual walked in, who looked like the person on the posters. Someone else followed behind her...

Was her English teacher, Present Mic.

"Heyy The help I asked for made it!" He announced for himself proudly, resting one closed fist on his hip while the woman, next to him, all done up for the show looked anxious.

"Thank you all for coming to help me out. Mic is being far to generous to me." The woman said gently, looking immensely nervous despite clearly being dressed for the performance tonight. "I am Shimizu Shinju, I am the artist behind the show tonight, it is nice to meet you all."

"It's no big deal Shimizu, or rather, Soundwing!, I can explain the whole thing if you want!" Mic took over, with no problem as befit his personality, the woman nodded, despite being the star. "The lovely lady here, has asked for help so she can continue her show, as she's been receiving threats from an ex-lover in regards to this show. Threatening ones, in fact! Now, while the police are looking into it, we're gonna make sure this individual doesn't get into the show! Capiche? Here's a picture of the guy by the way." Mic handed out a picture of a rather bland looking individual to the group. Dark hair, pale skin, bland face... but the eyes were solid black. He looked like a bug. A very boring bug.

"What's his quirk?" the purple haired woman asked. Looking to Mic and Soundwing. "I'm assuming he threatened to use it or some other thing?"

"Well, he did, among other things." Soundwing answered, She moved to the little desk behind them and pulled out a stack of papers. She continued her answer as she did so. "He has a.. I think its an enlargement quirk? I only saw it once or twice, and he always threw up heavily, afterwards.. these are what he has sent me." She handed them out to the Heros, except Mic, who probably had already read them.

"This guy sounds like a real piece of work..." Fatgum stated, flipping through the few letters he got handed. The purple haired hero nodded in agreement. "Some of these threats are really serious ones."

Soundwing nodded to the comments. "Thats why, I asked Present Mic to come MC for me," Said man gestured emphatically to himself, of course. "That way, I could have a Hero nearby, even after I had contacted the police."

"And then I asked for assistance at crowd management! Can't be every where at once! _**The show has go on!**_" Mic smiled broadly. Alarice stuck her hand up, before he could continue. He pointed at her of course, though she could see the tugs of smile on his face.

"Excuse me, but, do you have anything that might have this guy's scent on it?" Alarice asked, Focusing on the task at hand vs the fact she was getting some looks over the request.

"His... scent?" Soundwing looked perplexed, but recovered quickly, grabbing one of the envelopes from the bag of criminal evidence. "I think... this? It uh... has some of his hair inside."

The woman handed the envelope over to Alarice, who took the item, noted the letter inside. The room of Heros and one Musician tried to get back to its discussion on what to do, when Alarice stuck her whole face in, and inhaled deeply. As if she was trying to snort the contents up her nose like a line of cocaine. Not really noticing the silence, she shifted into a were-hound and did it a second time. This time she had a little bit of a sneeze on top. When she stopped, she noticed Fatgum's very amused look, and he gave her a thumbs up.

When she handed it back she noticed the slightly awkward stares in her direction, from Soundwing, the other Hero, and even Mic. "I uh, should be able to smell them now when they get near."

"Now we got more than just one sense to count on when lookin' out for this trouble maker." Fatgum was hardly bothered, more like proud. "Alright well, Mic where you do you want us at ?"

"You'll be at the front big man, you and Arariel both!~"

000

And they were, Alarice trying to appear more calm than she was. Even though she could hear her favorite hero's voice quite clearly through the walls. Perhaps that was because her ears had elongated up and into hell-hound ones. Mostly the night was going really smoothly, besides one upset person whose ticket turned out to be completely fake, and a mom who had long since had enough with their kid's behavior. She was also pretty sure she saw a familiar face she didn't like, in the crowd. Or at least, they just looked a lot like Gale.

Fatgum was also getting a fair amount of attention, and he was using some of that Hero status to calm some of the more rowdy guests, as they had to wait to get into the building. The show didn't start for another half-hour or so, but seating was taking a lot longer than anticipated.

Even once everyone was in, the fact there were at-least two very well known Pro Heros and a well-known musician with a sold-out show playing, meant there were still crowds outside, hoping for a chance spot, or just a slip-up by security. Perhaps a glance of the show or a whisper of it, too. Alarice admittedly was in the slightly latter category, though she was splitting her focus a little, sniffing for any scent of the man causing trouble.

"I don't see anything, and all the scents of perfumes and stuff make it hard to tell... Fat, can I use my were-hound to keep better track and circle the roof? It'd be a lot easier for me to scent him out if he's nearby at all." Alarice suggested, looking up to the large Pro Hero, puppy eyes at bay, a little apprehensiveness but determination in those weird eyes of hers.

"That sounds fine to me, I'll circle on the ground." The big guy conceded, relaying that across the radio earpiece he had on, before nodding to his little intern, who grew marginally in size and furryness. Even accepting a toss to expedite getting her onto the roof. After making sure her own little earpiece had stayed on her big ears.

She landed with some amount of grace on the roof, cat like and such. Crawling along the rim while her boss walked below, sniffing the air and taking in all the scents on her much improved olfactory system. The wind was harsher too up there. Her ears pricked and she darted over to one of the corners on the west side of the building.

"What are ya smellin' up there Arariel?"

"I think its our stalker, approaching from the northwest, he's upwind of me." Her voice growled back over the intercom. "What do you want me to do?"

"Stay up there for now, if he's got an enlargement quirk, ya bein' up there will have an element of surprise for us." Fat acknowledged, hearing her weird, noise of confirmation, and noting that her form up on the roof, backed off from the edge to further hide herself. He radioed over what his intern had reported, the other purple haired hero stated that they, as yet, didn't have any visual confirmation on that.

The tension was thick, for Alarice, it made her feel like she was made of rock. Holding so still and waiting for the moment she was either presented an opportunity or called into action. One of the two would occur. The third was also possible that the cops would have him nabbed extremely quickly.

"This is Haze! I've got a villain on me right now!" Called the purple haired hero from earlier, The wind was audible through her own ear piece. "It's not him!"

"Damn, there's two?!" She heard Fatgum swear from the ground.

"I've got 'em! Keep an eye out for our trouble-maker!" She heard Mic call over, in response to the other hero's distress call.

Alarice noted the shift in the wind, to a few flags on the other side of the building. Whoever they were fighting must have had some sort of air related quirk...

She snapped back to reality at the sounds of shouts from below, and there were several pops and smoke was already filling the air. Burning her nose on contact, and making her want to drop her form, instead pushing herself into full hound, where her adaption would be working at full force. She dropped down from the roof as she saw the man's quirk activate, making him larger. He was screaming for Soundwing in a sad desperate call.

She landed on the mans back and they both tumbled to the ground. She heard Fatgum shouting, but as they both landed hard on the concrete below, she noticed he had continued to grow. He was getting huge! How big could his enlargement quirk take him?! She only came up to the Stalker-Villain's knee now!

"Don't let him grab ya, Arariel!" she heard Fatgum yell, and she barely scrambled back on all fours, not fully understanding why. Till she felt the stranger grab just her tail, and suddenly, she realized. She was a lot smaller! "He steals the size of others, so he can grow!"

Fatgum made some unintelligible noise, before he took a swing at the man's stomach, which was now bizarrely eye level for the already enormous Fatgum. An attempt to 'touch' him failing as fist connected with stomach and the Villain stumbled back, groaning in pain. He looked sick top of it.

Alarice scrambled to try and continue to participate, even as the villain reached for Fatgum too. The smaller hell-hound sinking teeth into his ankle, Trying to help knock him down and stop him from interfering any further with the event! Or stealing any one else's mass!

000

While Alarice and Fatgum were taking care of the would-be villain with a troublesome quirk, Mic was dealing with a more polished Villain.

He threw his arms up in guard of his face, the purple haired heroine was on the ground behind him, unconscious and bleeding. He was bleeding too, as the ripping wind around him tore at his own tough leather jacket, digging deep past the protective layers. He let out a hiss of pain, before a letting out a short burst of noise that disrupted the razor sharp winds trapping him.

"So, did he talk you into crashing the party with some kind of sob story or what, wicked witch?" Despite the fact she'd wounded him, and proved to be a deadly villain, Mic still managed a light tone.

"Who?" The other responded back, before smiling manically back at him. "Ohhhh! Nah, he's just an excuse to have some fun with such a commendable pro!"

She threw up an intense tornado force, even if it only affected 10 feet. With a smaller center that was some what unaffected in the interior. The small window chamber effectively reduced the strength of Mic's voice attack. With Mic's voice he could disrupt the wind-users quirk, but similarly she could use it to block his attacks.

"Fine then, you wanna give yourself a name?" Mic danced back from a burst, and canceling it out again.

"Nah, I already got one," She threw down another, this time catching him in it's eye! "I'm the Knight of Skys!" 

"A knight huh?!" He couldn't help but smirk back at her proud, maniacal grin. "Is that really the best name you could have?" Laughter seemed to trail that, killing her Tornado once again. Followed by a sharp inhale, and of course, Release. This shout was loud, as any good voice attack should be, but, where this particular move excelled, was _duration_. Letting out one big yell was one thing, and people could say that Mic could talk for hours, (or even your ear off), but he could definitely scream for a solid minute. (And your ear _might_ actually come off)

The sound rattled windows, made small objects bounce and vibrate on the ground. Killed Knight of Sky's tornado, and also, the one she threw up to defend herself. Forcing her to focus on protecting her ears, as even her bones felt the sound waves. Mic kept up his attack up till he saw her run, cutting it off and gave chase, alongside a few other police peeps.

"I don't want the last thing I hear to be your shitty singing voice!" Sky barked out, running off into a narrow alley way. Using her quirk to boost her speed, launching herself over a wall. Mic and the small group of pursuers scrambled to get over the wall, or around, to catch the Knight of Sky, only to have to painfully admit they'd lost her incredibly quick into the chase.

Heading back, the responding paramedics were already taking care of the purple haired woman. The regular, hired -n door guards looked concerned and waited for Mic's signal that they were done. Which he non-verbally gave, before collecting a few Medics himself. "There was another villain, had a wind-type quirk, on the west side of the building." He told them, a few of them trying to get him to stop moving so they could treat his wound.

When he eventually did stop, looking rather bothered that they wanted to treat his wounds. You couldn't even see them under the black leather! Not to mention he had a spare coat inside! It was fine! The laceration on his leg was wrapped and treated with a few stitches on-site in the little ambulance truck. But his arm's scratches were far more minor, there were just a few of them. So his arms were wrapped up and what was left of his Jacket pulled down over them. He wanted to know how Pupper and Fatgum had done with the Stalker.

As he came around the corner, he saw the enlarged figure of the guy on the ground, and a small dog sitting on top of him. Growling? Looked fine too.. Where was..?"

"OH noooo, Arariel is that you!?" He shouted out, not being able to hide his mirth that the tiny looking dog was actually Alarice. The little skull-headed hound huffed at him audibly. "What happened ?!" He couldn't stop a few more giggles from escaping.

"He had a size-stealing quirk." Fatgum explained. "Arariel got hit a few times, but it should wear off in a few hours... I keep tellin' her she should try to transform back but she keeps shakin' her head."

"Arariel can you transform back?" Mic leaned over to ask the slightly larger than a 15 pound dog, hell-hound. She shook her head. "Is that a 'No you won't', or a 'No you can't'? Two shakes for won't, one for can't."

One shake.

"Ohhhh Arariel-listener this just such a sight!, you look so adorably small. Weird. But adorable." Mic riffled into his pockets to retrieve his phone. Ignoring, with a smile of course, all the wild noises she was making that probably counted as 'throwing a fit'. He was definitely having a laugh at her expense. Fatgum barely hid that he also was finding it somewhat amusing.

"Despite the mini Hell-hound we got the guy taken care of, now we're just waitin' for the effects of his quirk to wear-off on both of 'em." Fatgum stated, picking Alarice up off the guy like you would a small dog, and carefully putting her on the ground. She definitely looked out of place, and pissed about being so small.

"Haze is being treated, we got attacked by another villain, supposedly un-related to this guy's attack, on the other side. " Mic informed his fellow heros and one mini student. "Unfortunately she escaped."

"That's a shame, any villain ya recognized?"

"No, I don't know who she was..." Mic admitted, going into thought for a moment. "I'll send you a description too, in case you run into her later. She's got a nasty wind quirk, it'll rip the skin right off. Called her self the Knight of Skys if that rings any bells." And fuck up your carefully done updo, as a few bunches of blonde hair were flopped over.

As Mic got the description down, passing it immediately to Fatgum and it being distributed to any cops who hadn't seen the fight. Mic noted in his peripheral vision, Alarice nearly getting stepped on as she scrambled back. He scooped one arm under Little Alarice's hound body, and held her up off the ground. Her legs dangled unceremoniously as he held her under one arm. She wiggled them in attempt to not be held like this.

"What? Do you want to be a pair of Hell-hound shoes? I just saved you from getting stepped on!" Mic defended, while she wiggled her legs almost in argument, looking up at him, wafting flame-like smoke billowing out of her eyes. "Do you mind if I hold on to to the mini-hound?" He asked, almost like he was teasing, all teeth, to Fatgum.

"Hah, that little dog delivers a fierce bite even at that size, so more like I'd be careful holdin' her." He chuckled as Alarice wiggled again before just letting her legs all dangle limply, though her tail's hand was gripping onto leather, in the off chance Mic dropped her.

"I take that's how you toppled this big boy?" Mic asked.

"Ya got it!, had to use a car, unfortunately, to trip him, but that bite was enough to get his attention on somethin' else, and then POW!" Fatgum enthusiastically described the story, the two Heros making finger guns at each other. Stopping as a loud crescendo of noise erupted from the building, Mic's smile turning to something softer and more honest.

"And Soundwing's show is in full swing..." 

000

Alarice remained as a tinyfied hell-hound for longer than she would have liked. She was sure the cops who had been hit were feeling the same. Similarly for those waiting for the guy to size back down so they could easily transport him. How much easier it would have been to have a quirk-canceller on hand!

She'd been sitting on the table, looking like a weird little statue, when Soundwing came back in. Fascinated by this tiny Hell-hound, right before Alarice jumped off the table, and awkward shift from were-hound to normal girl again took place, just in time to save the table. Alarice looked back at her with dinner plate eyes. "excuse me"

"I wanted to thank you all, before I went to the after party, for protecting my show. I'm having flowers sent to Haze." Shimizu said, with a pleased smile, little relieved tears at the corners of her eyes. "You're also.. all welcome to come to the after party if you want!"

"Ooohh After Party! I'm all for it Soundwing!" Mic chirped before, realizing the time, and the puppy-eyed look his student was giving him. "Lucky for you pupper, you're on break! But it is up to your mentor..."

Fatgum gave no indication he was opposed to them going to an after party.


	27. Panic at the Disco

Chapter 27

"Panic at the Disco"

A yapping dog was off its leash, the owner running furiously behind it, yelling its name, snapped Alarice out of her thoughts. Taking the dog by surprise, she picked it up as it ran over her feet. Which it did not appreciate her doing but she did it all the same.

"Oh thank you, young lady, His leash just slipped off my hand... He's still just a puppy." The woman said, taking the dog back into her arms, petting it. Even though it squirmed to be let down again.

"You're welcome. Have a Good day.." Alarice waved, even as the woman hurriedly walked off from them. It was starting to get late, maybe that's why she was hurrying off? Or was it embarrassment? Alarice settled on both, then jumped when Fatgum re-emerged from the building she was standing outside of.

Ever-glorious and needed food in his hands. She didn't even need to ask, much of her apprehension now lost in regards to him. She took her share happily.

"Despite helpin' out, you look a little sad, Arariel, what's up?" He settled against the wall next to her easily.

"I'm just... I don't want to go back to the states. Not yet, any way. I mean... I miss my dad don't get me wrong but I don't really fit in, there." Not that she really heavily fit in here, but at least here she had opportunities.

"Ah. That I get. Its possible you could work something out." Fatgum mused next to her, eating his own share in a relaxed pace.

"Probably only if some one gets expelled..." Alarice tried not to smirk to herself that she wouldn't really mind if a certain classmate did get expelled. "But maybe? They like to keep a certain number I think, but sh- a classmate did get approved to join the hero course so... maybe?" Alarice just went back to chewing silently and pondering to herself. A calm silence taking over as they people-watched and ate on their hero food-break. Before long, Fatgum started walking again, Alarice finishing her food and licking her fingers like the uncivilized creature she could be. "OH I also remembered, the lady in Mic's description, I think I do know who that might be. I just don't have a last name."

"Yeah? Who?" Fatgum's tone didn't suggest any annoyance that she hadn't said something faster. The Villain had run off, and to some degree they had time now before her next appearance to figure her out.

"I think her name is Gale, She talked to me at a festival once." Alarice said as her cheeks started to heat up about what Gale had talked about at the time. "I... don't think she likes Mic, or Heros like him. She kind of made fun of me, for having a plush Present Mic toy."

Alarice could see the smile threatening on his face, but he kept it down. There were much more important issues than the now-obvious knowledge that Arariel was a Fan for Present Mic. Every hero hopeful had someone after all.

"That's a little concerning. Have you told him that?" Fatgum stated, wrapping up his food garbage, now that he'd finished everything.

"No... I can do that right now, though."

000

Hizashi looked apathetically into his phone screen, reading the received text. Great. Not really of course, but hey, it was better to know if there was a possible villain gunning for you, rather than not. He put the phone down on the table and stared blankly into space.

This club's music was NOT helping his mood, either. It was not what he would call 'living'; in fact, he was considering calling the coroner. He was dying, here! It was loud enough he had to shout to be heard, but not good enough that he was entertained. So, silent he remained, lest he do something stupid by accident. He looked over towards Kayama, at least she was having fun. The Red-head definitely looked cute.

The waitress brought him his beer with a smile and a nod. He took it, and considered drinking the entire beast, right now. Maybe the music would be enjoyable if he was completely blasted off his ass?

No, he'd probably just be annoying. Surprising even himself, the urge to just go home, and curl up on his boyfriend, was very enticing.

He drank a sip of his strong beer, and settled into his seat a little more. Two sips, three, four...

Fuck it, he downed the entire thing as fast as he could, loudly thumping it back on the table. It was only his second large beer dammit. The sound and motion attracted Kayama over, with her new date.

"ohhh Hizashi, what's up?" The dark haired woman shouted over the boring beats.

"Nothin', Just exhausted, I think, from an entire day's teaching English to small demons." He cracked a toothy smile at that. The red-head giggled at little, so that made it worth it. Kayama smiled too, so, double worth it.

"Ahh, well, this is Rose, she's here on vacation." Kayama introduced, then continued to introduce as Hizashi ordered them more beers. They arrived swiftly.

"So what is it you do?" He asked, drinking into his next beer.

"I'm a support specialist for heros in Australia." Was Rose's proud response. "It's not too bad, and I get to work with some very nice people." She smiled wide, though it quickly faded. Hizashi turning around to see what had caused that, and Kayama standing up.

A young man, with long blonde hair, had doubled over onto the floor. His groans of pain, nearly drowned out, followed immediately by vomiting. His friends were with him, he'd be okay.. then another individual, of similar look started having the same reaction.

While Midnight and Rose watched this happen with confusion and worry, Hizashi noticed something else.

"Kayama..." Hizashi started, he too, found himself feeling whatever the other two were feeling. Everything inside of him was on fire, and tightening up. "I think... we should call for an ambulance..."

He was almost immediately on his side, as he couldn't seem to help it, curling up like the other two. She was with him, in less than 2 seconds, looking up to see Rose had taken on the task of calling-in the emergency, already. So Nemuri Kayama was the one to start calming people down, and getting the club under some form of control.

000

Alarice was standing outside Midoriya's door when he opened it.

"Hey Rice, what's up?" He asked, a little on the nervous side. He had a vague idea on what it was, given that her phone, clutched in her hand was playing a specific radio podcast. It helped that he also kept up with Hero news.

"I.. I couldn't think of any one else who would care, but, you saw, right, what happened to Mic?" Alarice asked, her breathing was rough and somewhere between panicked, and trying to be calm. "H-he's in the _hospital_."

"I did." Midoriya admitted, starting to try to think of ways to keep his fellow hero classmate from crying. She seemed to be just as fond of Mic as he was of All Might... and she was, apparently, seconds from freaking out. A few tears began to escape. "H-hey Rice don't cry, He'll be okay! He's in good hands!"

He tried desperately to reassure her, giving her a pat, even a hug, and finally all he could do was give her a few tissues. Continuously pushing the thoughts of his mentor out of his head.

"Alarice really, he'll be okay." Midoriya tried again. "L-listen how about we take your mind off this... Sato said he was making cookies today, you wanna go eat them, I'm sure he won't mind!"

The teen encouraged the other, who just nodded her head, and wiped her eyes. Following behind her friend, one earbud in, the other out, and the phone in her hand. Their passing to the kitchen was not missed by their pink classmate.

"Hey... Whats wrong you two?" Ashido asked.

"Present Mic is in the hospital right now." Midoriya said simply, while Alarice occupied herself in the kitchen, gesturing to the cookies on the tray, cooling. Sato just let her have however many she wanted. It was no secret in 1-A that she was a Fan of the voice Hero, and would naturally be concerned for his well being. Ashido made a knowing noise from the couch.

"You know what we should do then?" She started

" no?" Midoriya responded a little nervous.

"WE should make him a get well card! Especially if its in English!" Ashido chirped. "I bet it'll make everyone feel better too."

Whether it would, or not, was not discussed, the pink student wasted no time. Before a few minutes had passed, Ashido had gathered the supplies and had them set up on the table, downstairs. Alarice had been texting Jirou, who had, by luck, just gotten back, and had come to help. The students downstairs gathered and changed out as a few who had the time, kept working on it.

It took some convincing to get Bakugo to do it, but seeing puppy eyes did nothing to persuade him seemingly. He shouted loudly that he was going to prove he had the best english writing so he signed the card.

Jirou and Alarice were sitting together to write some lines of an English song on it, for him, signing it when they were done.

"So this is what you guys are doing." Came Aizawa's voice as he casually walked in, eyeing his students who were left at the table. He eyed the chibi-fied drawing of the voice Hero on the front of the card, as finishing touches were being added. "So you already know, good."

"Aizawa-Sesnsei! You should sign it, too!" Ashido chirped from the table, Midoriya moved over to allow his teacher the room to kneel down and do so. There was a faint smile that disappeared behind the man's capture weapon, wrapped around himself. Taking the offered pen from Ashido, and began to scrawl his name down on the inside, doing his best to write it in English.

"So do you have a plan for taking it to him?" Aizawa asked slowly, fully prepared that he was going to be asked.

"A-actually, I wanted to know if I could go do it?" Alarice asked, obviously nervous about that, but not so much so that she wouldn't try.

"Midnight is going by later, she can take you with her." Aizawa finished, then nodded, surprising Alarice (and a few others) at how easy that had been."1-B made one too, so you can take their's, too." He pulled out another card made by their rival class, putting it on the table.

000

"This was a mistake." Alarice mumbled under her breath as she followed behind Midnight in the hospital. In her concern and rush, she forgot how uncomfortable being in a hospital actually made her. On top of her other concerns, specifically concerning Gale. "What if this isn't okay? What if... what if its my fau-"

Midnight cuffed her (some what gently) on the back of the head. "Don't you start that, you already asked, and he said you could, so you're going in." To emphasize the point, she put the cards into her hands. "so you can give him those."

"But.." A sharp look from Midnight killed whatever else Alarice had to say in that one moment.

Mic, or rather Hizashi was laying down, looking a little uncomfortable, in his hospital bed, with his blond locks of hair all over the place, IV in his arm and everything. He looked towards the girls as they entered the room, managing to to sit himself up-right enough, even though that didn't look all that easy.

"Heyyy, **Pupper** came to see _me_ in the hospital, this time." Hizashi managed to hoarsely chirp out. Alarice wondered why he was hoarse, but just kind of anxiously nodded, knowing her cheeks were turning pink. She'd gotten quite comfortable with him, but the situation wasn't sitting well with her.

"We uh... we made you a card, and so did 1-B." Alarice said very simply, while Midnight made herself comfortable in a chair, nearby. She put the cards down, realizing that they were actually kinda big. She flopped them down into his lap.

"Alright alright, lets see these cute works of art by my cute little listeners." He cleared his throat and started looking, of course. Alarice, not sure what to do with herself, tried to locate a chair to sit in. Finding one to the side, she could sit in, after a moment. A long silence followed while the blond flipped each card open thoughtfully, and a small thoughtful smile remained on his face. "These are very nice. I like the little English lyrics in there. You and Jiro did a good job."

Alarice nodded. "It seemed appropriate... how can you tell we wrote them?"

"You both wrote your names in English beneath it, Pupper."

"oh-oh right... " She knew her face was bright pink now. "I.. uh... Hizashi-sensei you're gonna be okay, right?"

The room paused, Hizashi looking at her with this big green eyes before a smile crept up. "Of course, I'll be fine. Just some bad club music got me, is all."

Midnight made a noise to the side. Silence crept back into the hospital room after that. Hizashi went back to inspecting his get well cards, an amused smile taking over his face. Alarice found herself staring out the window, so she didn't stare at her teacher. This was a mistake... she couldn't stop thinking about her mother, or that she was...

She pulled herself out of it with a dramatic shake of her head. No, no she was not going to have thoughts like that! She needed to do something else.. anything else.

"Hizashi-sensei.. can I uh.. braid your hair?" Alarice didn't know if it was okay to ask but he had such long locks, and it seemed like a good idea. It'd be nice.

"My hair?" He looked at her puzzled about it, for a second. His hair was fine, wasn't it? Aizawa had come by earlier before and brushed it out for him, and even given it a gentle wash to make sure it didn't smell like sweat and other things. Even though that had mostly been taken care of once he was stabilized and his treatment had started. "Why do you want to braid my hair? Is it a mess or somethin' ?"

"Er, no I just... it'd be a lot easier for it to not tangle if it's braided that's all." She started to fidget as he inspected his own hair for any of the mentioned tangles. Midnight hid her face behind her hand for a moment.

"Sure, **Pupper**, you can do that, if that's what you want." He finally answered, with a doofy looking grin on his face. Alarice mumbled an okay and walked over, grabbing the comb off the little table at the side, and Midnight helping him sit up just a bit better. The whole thing made her worry even more, for a brief moment, before she began.

Alarice settled into her work on his hair, almost wordlessly. She kept her touch gentle, since she was pretty sure with such fine, golden locks, he likely did not have a head as tough as her own. Combing out the hair and separating it, and letting herself sink into the activity. The whole thing reassuring her that he was okay, for the multiple times her brain worried about loosing her favorite Hero, teacher and importantly, friend.

Hizashi himself, was absorbed in the relaxing feeling and also how cute they both probably looked. It was such a shame he had to go and get poisoned to have it happen!

After a few minutes, he had a longish, carefully made golden braid of hair. Some conversation continued, mostly between Midnight and Hizashi, while Alarice found herself unable to not doze as she listened.


	28. There will be Doggos

Internships were, so far, progressing. Not necessarily smoothly, but they were progressing. Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo had been interning together under one hero, and that was probably fun. It was interesting to Alarice any way.

Still, as each day of it ticked by, she wondered if she'd be staying for the next semester, or, if she'd be going home as soon as she was done.

There was also her inability to fully relax since Mic had been put into the hospital for being poisoned. She wasn't really proud of that but no one seemed to have questioned it to much. She had enough things to be tense about that this one thing seemed really sink into her skin.

"Hey." Jiro's voice came through, but then she was leaning very close in.

"Hey yourself." Alarice responded, a nervous smile on her face. "What's up, I'm gonna have to head out soon for my internship." She gave a less than convincing shoulder shrug.

"Thought I'd come bother you, since you know, you don't look nervous at all." The other teased, causing Alarice to frown. She fiddled with something Alarice couldn't see behind the couch back. "You could always ask to stay, couldn't you?"

"I did, I messaged Sunshine this morning, and she just said ' I know ', I don't know if that means she's already working on it or what." Alarice gave another shoulder shrug and the faint sounds of Present Mic came out of her earbud in her hand. "I hope I can."

"Same. It'd be a lot harder to have any kind of session over the internet." Jirou commented, giving her own shoulder shrug. "But we could, I mean, if we had to, right?"

Alarice looked at her blankly for a second and red dusted her cheeks for a moment. "Y-yeah I mean, I'd do my best... Can I share something with you?" Alarice said, finally getting up from the couch. "I mean, if you don't mind."

"I don't. What is it?"

"Its uh, it's up in my room. I have it on my computer.. It's a Mix I made." Alarice couldn't keep the nervous ticks out of her voice. "Just, don't judge me for my room okay?"

That got a look from her friend, but the two punk-esque girls headed up to Alarice's room. Jirou, being graced with the gift of being the only one of her classmates specifically, to see her room. A step or two below Midoriya's in fandom heavy decoration, and of course, for a different hero. She took a few seconds after quickly shutting the door, to pull up a file on her computer, plugging in a headphone splitter, and then two sets of headphones. Her good over-ear ones, and the pair of earbuds. She gave the headphones over to Jirou, and used the earbuds for herself.

"I made it.. It's a remix I've had for awhile, but I ended up using one of our songs as a base, and some of Hiz—Mic's sound bites in it... and some other stuff." Alarice couldn't help but hope her friend liked it. It was finally at a state she was happy with. Finally, she also wasn't thinking purely about loosing something. Or Someone.

000

Alarice still found it difficult to keep the thoughts of her teacher's health out of her head. Even though she was sure he was probably going to be released soon. She let out a huff of air and put herself into her work and started people watching.

"Are ya still worried about yer teacher?" Fatgum asked casually having apparently heard and noted the huff.

"... Maybe." Alarice defensively tried not to admit to much. She was at this point a little ashamed of how worried she was. This wasn't a normal amount of worry was it? "Is that bad?"

"No. Not really." He gave a big shoulder shrug. "Just seems like ya have too much worry, are ya that fond of him or somethin?"

"Don't be weird." Suneater hissed at Fatgum.

Alarice's cheeks immediately flushed with embarrassment. "Not like that!." She put her braid in front of her and fought down the urge to fiddle. "It's not that kind of... He just means a lot to me, I didn't realize how much till recently, I guess. It's kind of embarrassing to talk about actually."

He nodded his head and patted hers, startling her a little bit but she didn't resist. Suneater looking desperately uncomfortable watching this go down."So a childhood hero then."

"Yeah. I think he'd be really surprised about the old stuff I have."

"Ya got some hero debut materials huh?" Fatgum teased, "Those are rare."

"Nothing that old! But I have a really old poster my dad got for me on ebay. It's him. Like a couple costume iterations ago." Alarice laughed a little. "He has a different hairstyle, and there's like a million more studs."

Fatgum had a little laugh at that, Alarice was smiling along side, And Suneater back to silently observing others. Their walk pausing as a person on the street stopped them to ask for some help finding a store. A small, tiny thing, but Fatgum knew where every place you could get a good meal was, and coincidentally, their adjoining stores.

Much like when she had been stabbed, it happened very quickly, but unlike that, she was allowed to react appropriately.

To her surprise it was another Hell-hound, whose fangs had been going for her neck. Her quick transition and throwing up her arm to guard her throat spared it. Suneater's octopus tentacles launching out to wrap around the front leg of the monsterously large hell-hound helped slow it.

"Everyone! GET BACK!" Suneater hollered out with that hidden ferocity of his. People shocked by the sudden attack backed up, while the hound snarled, ripping into Alarice's arm, blood dripping down her arm and along the hound's jaw line. Her tail hand came about, gripping at the top jaw, while her free hands went for the bottom, forcing the hound's jaw open.

Just in time for for Fatgum to throw a hard punch into its gut, Suneater to jerking it back. The hell-hound being forced away. Bouncing on the concrete and recovering quickly before it hit a stopped car. Where it put its head down, and the spines on its back were revealed to be glowing white hot. Before launching off in all directions at the three Heros.

Alarice went full giant, using her Adaption enhanced hide, to protect herself and a few onlookers in the way of the launched spines. They bounced off harmlessly though a few became stuck, before falling off as she moved. Suneater had dodged mostly out of the way, shifting part of his entire arm into a gigantic clam shell to use as a shield. Fatgum just had to dodge and take a few. He hissed in pain but his fat absorption largely protected him from any real damage.

Stray spines landed scattered, igniting anything flammable they came in contact with. The Fire-spined hell-hound's body turned red, and a growl truly worthy of hell came out of it. The spines left became erect and ready for another launch. He charged at the same time Fatgum went for a offensive attack.

Instead of going after Alarice he went after Suneater. Who leapt to the side, dodging a clawed swipe, and going for a grab on the hellhound, his tentacles only two large, thick tendrils, protected in hard shell, and strong looking scales. "Chimera Grab." Wrapping around the Hound's middle, though Suneater hissed in discomfort.

There was a definitely smell of something burning as he tossed the hell hound away from them. The Hell-hound recovering not unlike a large cat, before snapping and running from a few swings from Fatgum. The few taken burning his gloves, his hoodie actually had quite a few little burns here and there on it. Alarice serving to keep the Hell-hound blocked in, as he snapped at her and she with her larger and more imposing jaws snapped back.

He launched another quill attack, before attempting another attack on Alarice specifically. Going for her already bleeding leg, which despite her large size, she was able to move away from in time. Suneater taking the opportunity, to slam a clam fist into the lower jaw. Knocking the Hell-hound hard into the air and back. Before Alarice slammed him back down with her own large paws.

Knocking the wind out of the hell-hound who struggled for a second clawing at her. Only tearing at her flesh where it had already been opened up by his previous attack. Before his form gave up and the Hell-hound was naked red-haired, red eye'd man.

"Got him, Arariel?" Fatgum asked, beginning the process of calling it in, while bystanders watched. She nodded her big head, but kept her focus on the attacker. Suneater nodded as well, making a face about the man's nudity. Grabbing a dropped jacket and throwing it over the man's legs. Alarice was keeping him pretty well-pinned down. He ceased struggling, still growling as a man somehow. Grabbing at her furr or claws as he glared back up at her.

"You're a betrayer! Turning your back on your _real_ family!" The hell-hound quirk user beneath her foot barked up at her. Her twitching ears the only indication she was even acknowledging him. The Police showing up to take him into custody.

"If you don't join with Manticore then you're better off dead!" he continued to spit at her, "You giants are supposed to protect _us_! Not _them!"_ She only lifted her foot when he was dragged out from under it, by Fatgum and Suneater. He was wrapped in the octopus tentacles as well as Fatgum's strong hands, while he was fitted in proper restraints. He was still hurling insults, throwing a fit, trying to get free despite his situation.

Eventually though, he was gone, packed away in the vehicle, and the nearby folks being treated for the wounds. Thought thankfully there was few, and those were exceptionally minor. Highly destructive though he was, his main targets had been the Heros. A medic took to treating Suneater's burned hand, and Fatgum's burns as well. Another was treating Alarice's bite, though she didn't seem remotely bothered. Sitting there while they applied stitches after flushing and cleaning the torn flesh and bloody pits left by long fangs.

"There you go, all stitched up, just hold still a little bit while I wrap it!" The chipper male paramedic stated, while they got out the gauze wrap. Seemingly ignorant to the blank look on his patient.

"Ya did good not reacting to what that guy was sayin'." Fatgum started, looking at her with a definite bit of concern. "an that reaction time from both of you! Whew, lightening fast and cool as cucumbers!."

"please stop." Suneater responded, looking at the soft gauze bandaging on his hand. The burns hadn't massively severe, but he would need to recover.

"All I did I was put my foot on him." She responded, a little dull in tone. Suneater despite his silence looked at her a little concerned.

"That's not all you did! You kept him blocked in so we could keep him on his toes! Led to him getting desperate and messing up, leaving himself open for Suneater's attack! Excellent team work from both of ya!' ." Fatgum despite his own burns was very animated in going over what his two interns had just done. Suneater was busy observing Alarice's lack of response to even that. "And you protected others! You did really well."

Alarice just sort of looked at him, at the ground and then thanked the medic as he finished up wrapping her arm. "I'm just.. bothered."

"By what he was sayin'?" He asked her, as she pulled her sleeve down. She nodded not really looking back up when she explained more.

"Are you okay, Arariel?" Suneater asked quietly.

"I think I do know who Manticore is." She stood up from her spot and just kinda stood there. The sinking feeling from the start of the verbal berating she'd taken was bothering her.

"Well... Good thing, apparently a detective wants to talk to you about what he was sayin' " Fatgum's voice was booming despite being quieter than normal. Alarice could kinda tell he was a little bit concerned for her. She wanted to be comforted but instead she just felt guilty. She looked over to the soft pat on her shoulder, as quickly gone as it had come, from, Suneater. "it...it'll be okay." He said.

They were moved from the incident site, most people involved were gone or had already given statements. For the most part people had returned to their lives' responsibilities, now that the villain and hero fighting was done and it was all boring again.

Arriving at the police building, and walking in, a rather kind faced Detective greeted them. Soon she was in a room quietly with them explaining that she was pretty sure, Manticore, was her sister. Following up that, she was unaware of anything else, learning afterwards, that she had to wait there for her escort.

Her internship she found, was now over, something Fatgum wasn't any happier about than she was. Though he did at least state that he'd take her back on when the opportunity presented itself if she still wanted to learn from him. Something she gratefully accepted.

000

Once Alarice was back in the dorms, everything had calmed down. The sound of heels on the tiled floors dominated the hallway. Aizawa's steps were dead silent as he came up behind the golden woman.

Quick as could be, the gray cloth of his capture weapon had her bound tightly, and jerked violently backwards towards the wall. She let out a grunt and then an annoyed sigh as her instinct to defend herself with her quirk failed to respond.

"Aizawa, really?" Sunshine asked, a fairly irritated look on her face. Aizawa was a picture of exhausted fury. Despite the fact he closed his eyes, releasing his erasure, hair flopping back down around his head, his fist was still tight around his gray capture weapon. Rather it tightened, just a little bit on the opposite hero. "Isn't this a bit forward, even for you?"

"There are no cameras in this section." Aizawa growled out. His dark eyes were penetrating. "I want to know the real reasons, right now, for bringing Stone here. I'm done being a pawn for whatever game you're playing."

"Is this about that Hell-hound attacking her?" Sunshine raised only an eyebrow at him, He jerked at the cloth and she winced. "Hard for me talk if you crush my ribs with that thing."

He narrowed his eyes, and released it only a bit. Watching her carefully, as if she was a Villain herself. His trust for her had been eroded away, and he was ready for her behave in any manner of ways.

"Fine, I'll tell you the truth, since you're so desperate to know." She said with some heat in her voice. "I'm working with international police, to break up and stop the killings of hell-hounds globally. My lead suspect, for awhile, has been Parasus Stone, whom I now have confirmation is Manticore."

She shuffled-off the weapon from her arms anyway, as she continued. "They have been massively elusive, and difficult to catch for numerous and complicated reasons. I needed a way to prove my theory that Manticore is Parasus, and draw her out. Alarice is her half-sister and while I was pretty sure she had interfered with Alarice's schooling after she left, I never had any proof or was able to catch her. So, since her schooling was failing, and I needed a way to draw Parasus out enough, to prove she was Manticore..."

"You brought here to use her as bait?" Aizawa hissed between his teeth. His anger was not getting any better.

"Of course." Sunshine responded, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Either UA would catch her sister, and/or we'd be able to confirm her as Manticore. Or even find where they've been hiding themselves."

He knew he was gripping the cloth too tightly, but it couldn't be helped. " Are you not aware of the danger you're putting her in!? She could be killed by this game you're playing!"

"I know." His stomach felt cold, as she continued. "Would it matter? UA was perfect for this. It really is safer here, than her previous schools, her sister would come for her one way or another; that was always the case. Her chance of living is better here, than elsewhere, and if not? Then, her last months of life are her learning to do what she wanted, getting to be around her favorite hero, and either way, do the rest of the world a service in stopping the mass murder of others like her. She'd be-"

"_Shut the fuck up_. Don't you _dare_." He was struggling to keep his voice down in the hall way. Sunshine seemed unphased by his glare. "She's your goddaughter, how can you justify putting her life in danger like this, and the lives of the people around her in danger!"

There was suddenly pain in her eyes, not guilt or shame but just pain, pure and simple. "I can _because_ she is my goddaughter. It's just one life, to potentially save more lives. Isn't that what we do? Every day?"

For a brief moment Aizawa didn't think she was asking him that question. He was the only one to respond, however, so he did. "So you lost your friend, and that makes it okay to sacrifice her kid? Is it easier for you, because of her quirk?"

"I don't know why your having such a problem with this Aizawa, it's a completely logical plan." Sunshine countered, her gaze still distant and not quite looking at him. He just glared at her for it, unable to deny that, as cold-hearted as her plan was... it was working. Manticore was now confirmed to be Parasus Stone. Who was still in Japan, she hadn't let left at all, but she hadn't been caught yet, either. It was a plan that was getting results. "Are those the answers you wanted?"

Aizawa didn't answer, stepping back, allowing her to walk away from him.

"Well, if you're done attacking your fellow hero, I have paperwork to do." Sunshine managed to sound curt despite the situation. Picking herself up mentally as they'd only had a minor squabble. The golden rose had thorns, and she had already drawn blood on those around her.

"Sunshine." He barked after her as she started to walk away. She turned around to look at him, as he managed to look intimidating with his weapon gathering back up onto his shoulders. "Stay away from 1-A while you're still here."


	29. Protect the Sleeping Dogs

Chapter 29

"Protect the Sleeping dogs"

Hizashi came back that night to his shared apartment, having an enjoyed his last day of sick leave from all three jobs, by spending time with a musical friend he rarely saw. He just hadn't expected to be home so late, especially after all the drama with him and the hospital. When he came back in though, he could tell something was wrong.

"Hey Sho' why are the lights all off?" He asked, feeling a little stupid, realizing Aizawa could be asleep. So he flicked the light on and was looking at his broodingly furious boyfriend on the couch.

And the fist sized hole in the wall.

Their cats were also nowhere to be seen. Usually, one of them was always trying to get Aizawa's attention.

"Uhhhh, Sho' why are you sitting here in the dark, with a hole in the wall?" Hizashi asked, confusion thick in his voice as he stood there in the threshold of the door way, not sure if he actually should come in. It was his home too, dammit and he took a swallow and crossed the threshold into the apartment. "Sorry I came back so late, I should have texted you."

"It's fine. Get in and close the door." Aizawa's voice was cold and smooth. Hizashi was, and wouldn't really say it, just a little apprehensive when Aizawa was really angry. It wasn't often, but the dark haired man did have emotions and when he felt anger, oh boy was he _Angry. _Hizashi just did as he was told, and walked calmly over to the couch next to his boyfriend.

"You were right to distrust Sunshine." Aizawa started, arms still crossed over his chest, likely hiding his bruised knuckles Hizashi supposed.

"I was?" Hizashi asked, trying not to sound as confused as he felt. Aizawa nodded, unfolded his arms, and leaned forward. Yup there were his swollen knuckles from punching the wall. "Is this why you punched the wall?"

A deep sigh and another nod.

"Arrrree you going to tell me about that, then?" Hizashi asked again, Aizawa giving him no looks of irritation for pushing for an answer. Instead a soft noise and he rested his hands against his head, and filled the other in on what he'd learned from Sunshine that day.

Hizashi was horrified, to say the least. "She's using us! We have to tell Nezu!" He practically nearly jumped up to his feet before Aizawa grabbed his arm and held him down.

"There's no point. I already told him. He already knew this was the likely reality..." Aizawa stated with a little less anger, and more tired irritation in his voice.

"So... what do we do?" Hizashi didn't know how to take his pre-planned role by Sunshine. Should he be mad? Angry? Confused? He was a hot pot mix of all of them.

"Our Jobs." Aizawa stated curtly. "That's all we can do. Just keep an eye on the kids as always... Can you keep a close eye on Alarice when you can spare it?" He turned to Hizashi, looking into his green eyes. Hizashi returned the eye-contact and followed up with an easy confident smile.

"Of course I can, Sho'."

000

Alarice didn't appreciate the day off. She appreciated Recovery Girl catching her, and expediting her healing for her, but... She still had some bandages on and she felt... punished.

She knew why, it was because of her sister. The "Hell-Hound" Situation meant there wasn't much she could do, for now. That an unknown hell-hound had weaseled his way out of the wood work, to attack her personally, while she was on the job, was a bit concerning. Enough that she was pulled early from internship while the investigation was active. She wanted to just cry but instead, she'd gone to work on improving herself. 1-A would largely be done or continuing their internships soon, in a few days time it would be time for classes again.

So, she spent her day running. When she was done with running, she ate and did some bizarre exercises to train her sense of smell. That didn't prove too fulfilling, and she could only do it so many times. So, she fell to her only other activity she enjoyed outside of break-dance and remixing...

"Stone what are you doing?" Cementoss had caught her jumping around the outside of one building. Her face turned red and she hopped down carefully. Using a bush to make her fall more gentle and land on her feet on the ground.

"I'm uh... Parkouring?" Alarice gave a nervous shrug. The cement man just kind of nodded, or at least, she thought he nodded.

"You're bored. That's understandable." Alarice flushed red as he said that, so bluntly pointing it out. "That seems like a useful hobby... hmmm How about, you come with me and I lay out a course for you?"

"ah.. is that okay? I mean yes, please." She didn't know how to respond but Cementoss wasn't a bad teacher by any means, plus she liked his general patience. She followed behind him, as they headed to one of the gyms. Where he proceeded to lay out a course, and then another more complicated course and another one, after that. For each one she completed, he would make another one, leading into encouraging her to use her quirk in small ways to help herself get around. She hadn't expected to have one of those famous free-style lessons when she wasn't even in school.

She didn't mind. Cementoss didn't seem bothered either.

After a day mostly consumed with free-style parkour courses, Alarice was tired, and after a huge meal, she was back to not knowing what to do with herself. Her classmates had started to file back into the campus and dorms, following their own internships. Selfish as it was, she didn't want to talk to them, or hear about their internships right now. She let out a yawn found her thoughts wandering to what her father had told her, as a youth.

Once again, her large hell-hound form dominated a grassy spot on one of the lawns.

She looked a lot like like a stereotypical anubis statue, her long ears right up, and her colors all black and patches darkening. Even her skull-face had started to get darker as she got older. Not that she really noticed the color change. So what if she was an all-black Hell-Hound.

Next, she tried to just relax, not drop her form, but relax in her form. It wasn't easy and she was definitely not getting there, instead listening like a snoop. She laid there, overhearing the faint sounds of voices from her neighboring dorms and her own dormitory. She wasn't really sure how long she was going to lie there, or how long she had, only that she had more than enough stored energy to practice. The sky had grown dark when she was able to hear someone was whistling a tune she found familiar. Turning her head around to watch her favorite hero's approach, he must have had a patrol because he was still in his hero garb.

He gave her a little wave as he came over. She snorted as he clearly barely avoided patting her snoot when he got close.

"Hey ya **pupper-listener**, what are you doing?" He asked, instead taking a seat on the nearby bench rather than join her on the grass. Her ears twitched left, right, and finally there was just a teenage girl lying in the grass in her suit, looking a little annoyed, but happy.

"Trying to uh... sleep as a hell-hound?" Alarice responded, trying to describe what she was doing without it sounding as lame as it just did.

"Sleep with your quirk activated?" Mic responded back, definitely not getting it. "Why would you want to do that?"

"mm well, mostly because Dad could do it. Its supposed to help you get closer to your hell-hound self, or something like that, but what it definitely does is let you run on low-power without dropping the form?" Alarice tried to explain, still stretched-out on the grass. "Its useful for guarding."

"Ah." He nodded, his long, pointy mane of hair shaking a little. The hair gel that held it up was starting to wear out after a full day's yelling. "You don't have to feel like you need to guard us you know."

"I know that." Alarice said back, making a face at him, even sticking her tongue out at him. "I just... I want it. Dad could do it, so I want to be able to do it, too."

Mic just was very silent for a moment, but before he could say anything else, she cut him off.

"Mic... Did either of your parents have your quirk?"

"Mm no, not really. Neither of them even really had voice related quirks, I don't think." Mic responded, with a casual shrug and Alarice noted, even a bit of pink on his cheeks. "I think my mom maybe? Neither of them where heros, so I really don't know, I never really asked them." He looked over at Alarice and she was just looking back at him with big puppy eyes. It wasn't a conscious choice to look that way. "What? Some people's quirks are real quiet!" she tried not to snort at that comment. "The eyes came from my dad, does that satisfy your nosy curiosity **Pupper**?"

Alarice flushed this time and buried her head in her arms so he couldn't see her doofy smile on her face. There was a muffled response of "yes" and then a little clearer; "Mine are from my mom. My dad has like, ice-blue eyes. Like a Husky's."

He let out a snorting noise of his own, before he went a little too quiet. Alarice realized to late, as she rolled onto her back, that she had taken her sleeves off, and they were laying on the bench he was sitting on. He clearly noticed too. "Stone.. is that the arm? The one Parasus broke?"

She went a little wooden then, but did her best to respond. "Yeah. That's the one."

"Well you only have two, it had to be _one of them_, **pupper**-listener." He responded, trying to be light about it.

Alarice just let out a soft laugh at that, before tracing the white scar marks and slight divots in her right arm. He tossed over her sleeves, one landing on her face, by accident and she let out a soft laugh about it, before tugging them on.

"She bit you as a hell-hound didn't she." He murmured out, he couldn't stop himself in time. She stiffened a little, as he was obviously thinking about it.

She snapped the right one on, covering up the awkward looking arm. "She did." Neither of them said anything, before she continued nervously on her own. "we were supposed to just be playing. I had to walk back to the house with it." She touched the lower marks through the sleeve but didn't say much else.

He sucked in some air between his teeth. "Little **pupper** sure was a tough kid. Do you want to hear about the ridiculous Villain I had to deal with today?" He offered, since she was clearly uncomfortable talking about her scars. Impressive and well-healed though they were. He couldn't imagine a 7 year old dealing with an injury like that, without an adult to help her, for any amount of time. Mostly he didn't want to think about that at all, any more, it was too upsetting.

"Sure." Alarice responded, stretching out before laying her arms over her stomach again.

"Alright so, I'm on my patrol. It's usually pretty chill, a few goofs asking me to play some meme songs on my speaker but that's like, standard. I'm ignoring that today. Sometimes I humor it because the song is funny, but today I decided to stay on focus, and as I'm trying to stay that way, when I hear the most ridiculous noise. Prepare yourself because this is some Grade A, top tier ridiculousness: It sounded like a fart." Alarice let out a little laugh and Mic clearly had to stifle one himself. His story continued on as she listened, how this guy had an incredibly specific sound based quirk, and had the legs of a cheetah apparently. As he explained how he found their partner in crime, Alarice had already felt her eyes droop. She didn't hear the end of the story, soundly asleep, by then.

000

Mic had never really seen someone fall asleep to him talking, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it, seeing it happen. He couldn't even really be mad. Apparently, she listened his radio show a lot, specifically to relax. According to Cementoss, she hadn't put her 'free-day' to waste either, so she was reasonably exhausted. That wasn't even counting that look she'd given him when he walked up, that spark of cheer in her eyes she probably wasn't even aware of. Now, she just looked so relaxed, and deeply asleep in the grass. He was reminded again of puppys after a long day of play passing out and becoming limp. Then he remembered how difficult she was to wake up when she passed out like this.

Aizawa had nearly dragged her out of the car onto the pavement before she'd woken up the first time.

Was this girl even aware of how much like a dog she acted? Probably not. He squatted down to try and shake her awake to not avail. She was out like a light again.

It was then a bit of movement caught his eye, and all of his skin went cold. Crawling in the grass right next to her long braided hair was a fairly decent sized beetle! _There was a beetle coming after them!_. He took a sharp inhale, and he closed his eyes and snatched her hair away from the beetle, gently laying it on his student where beetles couldn't threaten it.

The beetle was still there, though.

There was no helping it, with a small noise of effort, he scooped his student into his arms, and picked her up. Carrying her away from the beetle and heading for her dorm. She made one noise the whole time. Mic however was unprepared for how heavy she actually was. He'd forgotten how almost entirely muscle "**Pupper**" was. He was more than ready to put her down when he got up to 1-A's dorm, having to buzz the doorbell since he wasn't their homeroom teacher. There was an awkward moment where he just stood there, cradling a student in his arms while he waited for some one to come to door.

Jiro was clearly not that impressed, when she opened the door to see this sight.

"She fell asleep, listener" He said blankly.

"And she's still asleep?" Jiro asked, almost not believing it until he adjusted his grip, and she just stayed just as unconscious. "I can't carry her."

"Well, your classmates aren't going to bother her if she sleeps on a couch right?" Mic asked, trying not to feel creepy about the entire moment.

"Why not just wake her up?" Jiro suggested with a shoulder shrug, despite the thought, she just stepped out of the way. She noted Alarice was wearing her full hero uniform which meant... he'd left her shoes back where she'd fallen asleep. Jiro let out a sigh as Mic gave her a surprisingly indignant look.

"Why, when she's clearly happy this way, Earpods?" Mic said, not interested in the difficulty of waking her up, when she was likely in need of the deep sleep she was getting. One doesn't just pass-out like this, if they're getting good, regular sleep, or aren't exhausted, or both. He knew from experience in living with Aizawa, and also, in being a hero himself. Jiro didn't seem to feel the same, given the look she was giving him. She let out a sigh though and walked towards the stairs.

"I'll get her a spare blanket... just go put her on one of the couches then." Jiro's voice came from the stairwell. Mic would have shrugged but his arms were full of Hell-hound, so he awkwardly carried her to the common room, receiving a look that was definitely judging, from the 1-A student in the room. "She fell asleep, HVAC."

Todoroki just stared at him, in continued silent judgment of his actions.

He gently put her down on the couch, where she barely moved of course. Jiro returned with the blanket, just in time to throw it over Alarice, before settling down at the end of the couch herself. "I'll make sure she knows what happened Mic-Sensei."

"Alright, well.. goodnight listeners."

Todoroki just silently nodded, Jiro doing much of the same.


	30. Silence is Golden

Chapter 30

"Silence is Golden"

Alarice awoke to the sight of the dorm common room, bits of light streaming in, and oblivious as to how she got there. She assumed it was because of Mic, that made sense. Lying on the floor next to her was Jiro, they both had pillows carefully placed under their heads and blankets neatly over them. Though they looked like they'd been tucked in? Surely Mic hadn't stayed that long!

"Good, you are awake! Todoroki told me you both had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs! Well, Jiro-san fell asleep on the floor, BUT! I'm glad he did, you two didn't have pillows!" Iida paused, orange juice in his hand. "and Jiro-san didn't have a blanket!"

Alarice stared at him blankly for a moment, now starting to understand. "Thanks?"

"It's not good for your neck to not have a pillow." Iida stated, taking another polite sip of his orange juice while he enjoyed his breakfast.

"Thanks for that too, then." Alarice said again, sitting up now and stretching, to find she was still in her hero outfit. Well, most of it, as she hadn't really been wearing all of it, when she went out to practice. "I'm missing my shoes... I fell asleep outside, last night, listening to Mic.. Mic-sensei talk."

"I heard he got out of the hospital." Iida didn't seem all that phased or even concerned about that. "someone must have got your shoes back for you though, they're right where they're supposed to be."

"Oh. Okay." Alarice didn't know what to do with herself now. Everything had been, to some degree, taken care of. Either Mic had gotten her shoes for her, after carrying her in, to lay her on the couch, or Jirou... or maybe Todoroki? He'd seen them asleep after all. She was rather confused and her brain still trying to wake-up, didn't help her obvious confusion. Still, sleepy or not, she managed to escape the couch with no problems. Though her stomach grumbled loudly enough for the entire room to hear.

000

Just a little bit longer, she told herself as her classmates proceeded to leave for the day's internships leaving her there, on campus, ALONE again. Just a bit longer, and they'd all technically have to be here, and she'd stop feeling like she got put in the corner for being a bad dog, again.

She wasn't even a bad dog, right?!

She fiddled with the fidget spinner someone had left in the couch. She had found it after cleaning-up after everyone, out of pure boredom. Anxiety too, given she had no idea if she was staying in the school or not.

She jumped at the sound of the doorbell, heading to the door since she was the only one in the dorms, currently. She opened it to see someone she hadn't made active contact with since their extra training, and the joint training exercise.. Shinso.

"They said you'd be here. I could use an extra pair of hands moving things in." He said very casually, almost as if he was expecting it.. and then she realized he had simply avoided asking a question.

"Sure, I'll help." It's not like she had anything better to do, and alarmingly, the kid really didn't have that much to move. A total of 6 big boxes and 4 little ones. That wasn't that much, given how much they could furnish their own rooms. The pair were quiet between hefting boxes up to his room. Still quiet, as she helped him unpack a bit, and that stretched-on even into silently getting food together, since no one else was around.

"I'm... sorry I accused your dad of things just to get a rise out of you." Shinso said at one point, catching her entirely off guard. He didn't even look comfortable apologizing to her. She just looked at him, not sure how to respond herself.

"Thank you? I get it.. got it. Technically you weren't wrong, we are sisters by different mothers." Alarice said quietly, again not sure why the kids of this damn school were able to get her to be so honest? Was it that despite his quirk which made her uneasy still, their rounds of fighting each other to build up their skill had formed a bond? Did she trust Shinso because of his performance and the sight of his real dedication for wanting to be a hero? It was something.

"Yeah?" He asked, no quirk involved, but sleepily curious before putting more food in his mouth.

"mhm... Parasus was earlier on. We're 8 years apart in age." She said calmly, while Shinso comprehended the ages mentioned.

"8 Years is a long time, how old is your dad?" Shinso couldn't help the question, but Alarice just shrugged.

"He's 40 this year, His birthdays in the summer." Alarice said with such ease that she almost missed her table partner's expression.

"You mean your dad 'had' Parasus when he was _our age_?" Shinso looked almost horrified, and Alarice stared at him before realization hit her. She and Shinso were both 16... her dad had conceived Parasus when _he was 16_?!

"I hadn't... thought about that." Alarice began to push the broccoli around on the rice. "It was when he was uh... I don't know how much of this I should tell you, I don't really like talking about it, it uh... kind makes people dislike me more."

She was bring pretty open all things considered, which was probably why Shinso gave her a cat-like stare. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but it probably wont make me dislike you if you do." A smile not unlike their teachers spread on his face. "if anything I'm just curious, now."

"Promise you wont use it against me, then?" Alarice said, giving him a glare over her broccoli which she then ate.

Another equally indecipherable stare, and then a shoulder shrug.

"Er well, at 16, my Dad probably still would have been part of this group that like, bred hell-hounds? " Alarice looked both nervous, and embarrassed, the only person she had mentioned this to, had been Mic, after another boy had flirted with her, and she had panicked, in not knowing how to respond to that. Mic has been an ear of opportunity in that situation, and the truth had just fallen out of her mouth."It's as awkward as it sounds.. but I think it was probably arranged... mating."

Now her face was entirely red and she just boxed her ears. "please don't tell any one, Shinso, I can't believe I just told you that."

Shinso took that information in stride, "I don't really have any friends so I don't really have any one to tell."

Alarice gave him a look but he just gave her a look back till they went back to eating, with a few other small comments exchanged afterwards.

000

With Shinso moved-in, there was another student now, that Alarice lived with and yet still an air of mystery on her staying. Perhaps him moving-in meant that with the class evened out now, she would be staying?

Such a mystery.

Since she had also spied her homeroom teacher around more, lately, the burning urge to seek-out the answer became impossible to resist. Especially, after being held back from finishing her internship. So, swallowing some of her nerves, she headed over towards him, despite generally having an incredibly difficult time talking to him if she didn't have to.

"Aizawa sensei." She started, inhaling. "I need to know... Am I staying, for this coming semester?" He just sort of stared, for a moment, and her cheeks began to turn pink. She shook her head to get the flush off her face. It was getting annoying, flushing like that all the time.

"Has someone told you, that you won't be?" He asked, tone calm and as tired as it always was.

"N-no I just... haven't heard anything and I know I was only here to really get the provisional."

"Then you're staying." He moved to continue on his way, pausing for a moment. "Assuming you still want to, that is."

"Of course I do!" She couldn't keep the flush out of her face a second time, instead jerking on her own braid a little. "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei."

He nodded then, and made some 'shoo-shoo' motion with his hand as he walked away. Alarice taking the hint and heading back towards her dorms spying Shinso, and still having a lot of tension left to release. "Hey Shinso, you wanna fight me, out in the usual spot, again?"

The purple haired teen gave no vocal response, just a shoulder shrug, and turning to go back to grab his things. Alarice, beating him inside and passing by Kaminari, who graciously offered to be her Cheerleader. Even though she didn't need one or ask him to be there.

Why he was even there, was a bit of a mystery, but he provided some amusement. Also her phone had died so he provided his phone re-charging skills, which meant he was tolerated.

Alarice and Shinso were fighting fairly aggressively with each other. Alarice getting flung into a tree once by Shinso, then Shinso being dragged by the force he had used on her. Alarice being a good dog for messing up and falling to one of Shinso's tricks with his persona cords.

"Hey" came a familiar voice, Jiro walking up to the trio, baring gifts of water-bottles. "Denki said you guys were probably in need of water."

She handed them out, Alarice having gotten up to meet her, just took her water gracefully. Taking a few needed sips. "Thank you, Kyoka"

"Hey, it's no problem. Though, maybe next time remember to bring them?" Jiro said with a smile, probably at their expense. Alarice, blushing just a bit, going thankfully unnoticed by Kaminari who was just shouting that her phone was fully charged for her. Shinso was watching, to her chagrin, even going so far to have a subtle smirk on his face.

She thrust her water bottle into Kaminari's hand when he'd walked over to hand the phone back. "Waterbreak is over! Rematch!" Alarice barked out, her face now that frequent flush again, Shinso hiding his face, but she was pretty sure he was still smirking.

They got into position and with a call from Jiro and Kaminari, their fight began. Shinso using that capture weapon to enhance his movement, and Alarice focusing on her movement as a were-hellhound, or were-hound (there still wasn't a very good name for it), and it was hard to shout anything, while transforming.

Shinso flew right over her head, thanks to the trees, and she managed to pin him to the ground after catching onto his clothes, with her tail. Doing an awkward, and clearly impromptu, sort of flip over him, so she didn't slam him into herself.

"That's 4 to 2 now! Not counting ties!" Kaminari called out, Jiro wasn't making much response but she looked entertained. The two fighters straightened themselves out, Alarice mostly pulling twigs and leaves out of her hair. Shinso picking up his grey scarf by hand, not quite as good with it, yet as Aizawa.

"Your both too fucking slow." Growled a voice from trees and bushes.

"Oh, hey Bakugo!" Kaminari waved, the other three turning around to face the other student, who stood there, looking like an angry muscular hedgehog with his hair. "Did ya come to watch?"

He gave Kaminari a huffing noise in response, not really answering. Alarice was unswayed by his generally aggressive demeanor.

"If we're too slow, do you have any advice... or... do you want to join?" She offered, not entirely sure she wanted to do that, it was Bakugo after all, and he had a history so far of destroying her hero costume. The kids all seemed to wait on what kind of response they were going to get from Bakugo. He let out a growling noise and opened his mouth to speak.

_~Hello, juvenile heros.~_

A cold invading thought came into the minds of the teens in the small clearing.

~_Please be still, and silent for me_.~


	31. The Canary in the Coal Mine

(( Holy god, 10,000... I am in tears, like happy tears but in tears all the same I don't think a lot of folks would understand why but it means a lot to me that we've come this far. Thank you all ;-; ))

* * *

Chapter 31

"The Canary in the Coal Mine"

The group went stark still, there was the faint sound of birds in the distance, and a rustle of leaves. Though there was an urge to speak, cry out, anything, it was difficult to do so. Even if their heart rates were elevating from hearing a strangers thoughts pierce their own, their command like cold ice in their heads.

They were trapped in their own bodies, and Shinso briefly wondered if this is what his quirk felt like.

They looked around quickly for the creature or individual responsible for holding them in place. Jiro and Kaminari exchanged a glance, he could potentially let out a burst, that wouldn't technically be movement, but... Jiro knew from experience he wasn't keen on hurting his friends at all. They needed to get someone's attention, but how? Jiro found she couldn't really move but... her earplugs.. well she couldn't extend them but she could move them a little. Not much...

"h-hey f-fuck you" Jiro heard Bakugo say, and then that thought came back with another icy command for them.

~such a mouth! _Keep your cursing to yourself, don't speak such vulgarities!~ _

Jiro could practically feel that invasion of her speech, too. Wincing at how strong such a command was. There was a grunting noise from him, and something like a low growl from Alarice. The thought commands could be fought, it seemed, in small ways.

A thought did occur to her, but she couldn't move her earplugs enough to help any one else, and this was going to hurt a lot. She started to hear the next command and plugged herself into herself. It was painful, extraordinarily so, but the pain and sound of her own body, looping into itself, was enough to keep her from even 'hearing' the stranger's thoughts.

She saw her friends, through blurring vision, cast their phones into the grass, even their IDs. Identifying information was being tossed onto the grass, willingly, it would seem. Her her head was pounding with pain, she had to unplug from herself, as her nose began to bleed. The earlier compulsions were still there, to a degree, Speaking loudly wasn't going to happen and her movements were slow. However, quick movements were likely to give her away, anyway.

So she imitated her classmates, who had no choice, in case they were watching. Though she heard no other thoughts invade her own, to call her out for delayed response.

~excellent! _Also remember not talk about this!_~

They hadn't noticed that Jiro had mostly broken free, the relief meant she was too late to catch that command and grimaced to herself.

~_Now please, come to_ –

Jiro hurriedly plugged herself back in, throwing herself towards the only other student she could reach, to stop them, too. Her own feedback loop wrecking her, and her plug only barely making it into Bakugo's leg, the painful deep thrumming blocking the compulsion to leave with the others, from his brain. She nearly lost consciousness, barely pulling back out again before that happened. She could audibly tell that Bakugo was mostly free, and hadn't let that go to waste. Alarmingly though, their classmates where already disappearing into the trees. "OH no you friggin don't"

Bakugo hissed out, increasingly irritated, now that the former compulsions were remaining, and found he couldn't run, the remaining compulsion still kept him from moving too much, speaking too loudly, and also cursing. Jiro still lying on the ground, watched him spark a bit, literally, realizing he could probably still use his quirk to move.

~_Please no quirks now kids, please behave_.~

Somehow it was enough, faint as that thought felt for Bakugo to stop. Jiro could practically hear his teeth grinding as a result. Their friends were no longer in view, was it his sparking or was one of their classmates trying to defend themselves, too? It was impossible to tell, now.

Much to Jiro's surprise, Bakugo turned, and in that forced slow pace, bent down and picked her up. She was grateful that he could tell she was dizzy and unable to stand, currently. Protecting them both hadn't exactly been easy or comfortable.

"Mother clucking fecal matter of a dog." Bakugo tried to growl out, carrying his classmate away, at the painfully slow pace they were stuck at. "I'm going to beat the booty off of them."

Jiro tried not to find any humor in the situation.

000

Ashido was the first to see them as they crossed over the threshold of plants, to paths again. Midoriya wasn't that far away from her, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Oh my … are you two okay? What happened?!"

"a Mother trucking psychic piece of poop just-" Bakugo looked like he wanted to explode and also die, and Ashido, (between snickers) was genuinely relieved that he didn't explode, helping Jiro to her feet when he put her down. Furiously trying to use his quirk but a small poof of smoke his only reward. Jiro struggled to find words, too. "Something... bad.. just happened."

"mother of a cuss!" Bakugo managed to 'yell', it was more like a raised voice, but slowly he was fighting off some of the compulsion. Midoriya was attracted over by the sound of frustration in Bakugo's voice.

"Kacchan?" Midoriya asked, face the picture of classic concern from him, Jiro noted, and Bakugo's immediately enraged further.

"Deku, you fricking frick, some frappin fart with a telepathic quirk got in!" was all he managed to get out, but the fury on his face was extremely telling on what had just happened. Midoriya took stock of what he was seeing, and also the lack of explosions, and what he was hearing.

"Someone with a telepathic quirk that... made you stop cursing?" Midoriya asked, looking considerably concerned, and increasingly so, as he wracked his brain for knowledge. "I... don't know of any one in the school with a quirk like that."

There was a growl of frustration, and a few more puffs of sulfur-smelling smoke.

"It's... we were commanded not to talk about it." Jiro said uneasily. Midoriya's stress and concern rising exponentially. "Kaminari, Shinso, and 'rice were with us."

"Someone got on to UA grounds." Midoriya said, looking for confirmation from his two classmates as he put it together. There was more anger and a downcast look from Jiro. "With a Telepathic quirk who compulsed you n- Ashido, can you take Jiro to Recovery Girl?"

"Got it." Was the pink haired girls response, leading her friend towards the main building.

"Kacchan, let's go!" Midoriya responded, quick to find one of the little security drones that would have been useful earlier. Picking it up as Bakugo said some other ridiculous line of sanitized swearing and bitching. Repeating what he had gathered information-wise to it, before taking off with Bakugo, who was furious about the entire affair. The tiny robot was a faster method of getting the info to the school than running to tell them, themselves. Time was of the essence after all.

000

The two hell-hounds jumped into the van, as it materialized from the pile of leaves and logs it had appeared to be. The eggshell-colored one, clutching three perfect looking eggs in its mouth, laying them gently down onto a soft fabric 'nest' to protect them. The sicklier of the two, shifted back into a man, retrieving clothes and getting into the van. While the side of the van door was shuttered closed carefully by a fourth person, a small woman. She settled-in, next to the eggshell-colored hell-hound.

"I'll finish dressing as we go, Dupe. Best we go now, too, there were two others I wasn't able to catch." The clean-faced, well-kept man stated, putting on the loosely fitting clothes as the van pulled onto the road, and headed away from their spot. He settled into the passenger seat, grabbing a pack of energy bars, and proceeding scarf them down. Unwrapping several more, and tossing them to the back for the other, still maintaining hell-hound form.

"Manticore won't be pleased." Dupe commented, a fellow of equal age to the other, covered in tattoos. His hair messy but his face easier on the eyes than his compatriot's.

"When is she ever pleased? Those kids will be struggling to explain what happened to them, even still." Jerry, settled into his seat more, seemingly unphased by his inability to ensure the capture of all the kids. "Besides, I did my research, we wouldn't have wanted one of them any way. If my ears didn't betray me, one of them was that kid from the Kamino ward incident."

There was a grunt from the one still a Hell-hound, as they laid their head down on their paws, not really relaxing or sleeping but casually maintaining their shape.

"Ah." Dupe acknowledged. "Still, kidnapping _any UA_ kid is risky, given the _info_ from that same Kamino ward incident."

"Or if the security I had to work through, to put you both IN THERE, was any clue, Jerry," growled the woman, arms over her chest and looking displeased with him. "This was a terrible idea."

"So what you're saying is, it's fine I didn't grab the explosive child anyway." There was a huff from her after that. As far as he was concerned, even getting three kids was a stretch he hadn't really wanted to do. Not to mention he'd have to lay out another round of compulsion once they got to the docks. He dug into another energy bar and cracked open a soda. "You good back there, Thomas?"

There was a snuffling snort from the Hell-hound behind his seat. As well as a sigh from the woman who looked thoroughly displeased about being there.

"Alright then." Jerry said with another shrug, drinking his soda deeply, sucking down the whole can, politely putting it into a trash bag, right after. The car ride went quiet for awhile, casual radio music playing from the radio at a low volume. "I do hope the Tenshi-clan aren't going to be too demanding about claiming a pup."

"Manticore will give them something, she has to." Dupe said with a bored look at the road, at least traffic was light, they were making good time. "She doesn't have a choice, as they've been such good hosts to us. Especially now that there's still a large chance that UA will come knocking on Tenshi's door looking for their kids."

"Tenshi clan knows what to do, they've been fending people off for years." Jerry stated, finally putting on his shoes, since he'd been entirely naked earlier. "Manticore will probably have us moving out tonight or tomorrow night anyway." They were still an hour out from the main location to get onto the ship. The only problem was, of course, that their hell-hound looking friend would need cover to be gotten onto the ship. Hopefully Isolator would be there help them out with that.

They pulled into their docks after awhile, Dupe having to shake Jerry awake, before they carefully awoke their compatriots "Want me to carry the eggs or?"

The hell-hound gave them a huff, and collected the eggs themselves, carefully into their jaws. They shrugged, Thomas could do what he wanted with his eggs. They came around the side, nodding to their boatman, an associate as well. The woman got out and gave a noise. No Isolator, so they went with Plan B: Thomas in a box, lightly covered, loaded onto the ship. They loaded up and Dupe made sure the van was responsibly parked and taken care of, before heading over to catch a ride to the Island.

The Tenshi clan island was decent travel away from Japan, settled just far enough away they fell into almost international water, but only barely. By and large, it was considered Private Property, but more importantly, it was also considered 'protected' territory. The Tenshi clan manor was historic in its value. The lands on it containing protected animals, at least as far as they claimed. However it wasn't open for tourists, since the family still lived there.

A few hours travel later, the little boat the four hell-hounds and one associate were on, docked peacefully at the island. Another larger ship was docked at its side. A privately owned ship.


	32. Do you wanna see my spaceship?

**(( Hey, I hope everyone is staying safe, alot of this is pre-written at this point for regular posting, So, How would people feel if I updated an extra chapter this week to help distract? Stay safe and sane kids! ))**

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Chapter 32

"You Wanna see my Space Ship?"

Aizawa was keeping his fury calmed and leashed with thoughts and plans and running scenarios in his head. Really it was the only rational thing to do with all of the energy now coursing through him.

He'd heard about it from the security robot's system, same as he had for most incidents on the school's grounds involving the troublemakers. Except it had been a mess of information from Midoriya's own mouth. Their security systems had once again failed them and Aizawa was furious about that too. It was burying any sense of positive he had felt from his two most troublesome students actually doing the responsible thing. Telling the school , and also, stopping when they came to the boundary.

Though the latter was probably Midoriya's doing, and the wearing off, but still limiting compulsions on Bakugo. There were many things that Midoriya had helped with, to the latter's disagreement, but had barely tolerated. One of them was helping the two 'survivors' talk about what happened, apparently something they weren't directly capable of. Even still. All of the three now missing teens Ids and cellphones, and anything else that could have been tracked, had been taken off, and tossed onto the ground where they had stood.

Now Aizawa was sat, near Nezu, rolling over ideas and plans in his head while Nezu was less silent.

"Yes. Yes I am afraid that is the case." Nezu's voice was soft and genuine as he spoke into the receiver.

Aizawa couldn't make out what the discussion was about personally, and his mind wandered into darker territories for a brief moment. Nezu hung up the phone after a few moments of time.

"Aizawa-san" Nezu said fairly calmly, to get his attention, one small rodent paw on his knee. "I'm afraid its as grim as we were concerned they might be, as far as my connection in Sunshine's little group says, they have one idea where Manticore may be hiding but, they can't confirm it, but its suspected to be the Tenshi Clan island."

"That's a protected island..."

"Yes, which means we can't just go kicking in the door there. A detective was sent over a month ago but he reported nothing unusual." Nezu said with a tone. "Though this is a group that survived this long, that's well organized and trained, its possible that they are able to fake it."

Aizawa just let out a huff through his nose, considering it, technically it would be wrong for him to get on their private property, and covertly scope out the scene himself. Technically. He gritted his teeth.

"Does Sunshine have a way around that?" He practically spit her name, but that bitch had a plan so she had likely accounted for this.

"She does, but at the moment it appears to not be working the way she planned." Nezu said with a hint of distast on his features. Despite being rodent like and otherwise difficult to read. "My associate there has informed me he'll pass me the information as soon as he has it. Sunshine's team apparently desperately needs the same info to make the appropriate move."

"Her team..."

"Yes. I pushed that I be allowed to send some Heros of my own choosing with her team..." He paused for a moment. "and I'm choosing to send some one as a forward scout, so to speak. It's a bit under the table, but, Eraserhead, please return our students to us alive."

000

Aizawa, Eraserhead went through the dubious connections he did have, to dig up more information on the dealings of this particular group of hell-hounds. Irritatingly, it wasn't all that easy, Tenshi Island was looking like the increasingly only 'good' lead and it wasn't 100%.

Well-trained and organized didn't quiet explain it. As a few of his better minded connections pointed out, they moved like a family, not just a group of random ruffians. The best he was getting was that their group was active, a few spotted individuals here and there, some by different names.

Finally after poking his nose around enough to be concerned it might get bitten off, an assistant of some kind showed up. The Kid quickly introduced himself to Eraserhead, but not much, just a first name and a insistence that he was only working here because he couldn't find another job.

"This guy, he came and it was really weird, he looked like some sort of weird english gentleman or something, but uh... there was something wrong with him man." The kid started, Eraserhead just nodding for him to continue. "My bossman just told me to take the money under the table, ya know, and just do what he says."

"Yeah?"

" Yeah but this guy... he was really demanding that I be more polite and I was kind of surprised because he's clearly not from around here. How would he know?" The young man gave a shrug and a nervous wipe of his brow. "So I kinda just didn't pay that any mind but he was like a middle aged house wife about it, he just wouldn't let it go."

"Did you still sell him the boat?"

"yeah man, I had to, but he got so mad at me, he was still weirdly polite, but like... His face did this thing.." Now he was really getting uncomfortable, outing some one's quirk was like outing their name if it wasn't immediately obvious to the viewer. "he grew like.. grey fangs, and his nose did this thing..."

" he just grew fangs?"

"Yeah.. I mean no, but sorta yeah, his nose went flat too but then his buddy came in I guess, real chill lookin fellow with tattoos, and called him off." The kid rubbed at his arm. "I though he was gonna attack me, but they just paid and walked off."

Eraserhead nodded and from one of his pockets pulled a phone, and pulled up two photographs. "Did it look like these two guys?"

"y-yeah! I don't forget faces very easily, it was definitely thoose two." He actually smiled this time rather than the anxious tick of a false smile. It faded quickly though as he realized an important detail. "Hey... are.. they hell-hounds? The stories about 'em aren't true right? They don't like... eat people ?"

"Yes." Eraserhead said flatly putting the phone back into his pocket. Covering up the annoyance and defensiveness for one of his students that rose. The informant looked a might uncomfortable. "Do you remember if they said where they were taking the boat?"

"uh.. I don't remember if they said, no, but they wanted something that they could do island sightseeing with? think they got a type of speedboat? They paid upfront for it and they don't dock it here."

"Thanks for the info, " Eraserhead told the young informant.

"uh.. sure.. hey uh how.. bad is this?"

"Bad enough I'd quit today if I were you." his tone slipping into the chastising tone he used on his students. With that, he left to acquire himself transit to the Tenshi Clan Island. Something subtle since he was going where he wasn't supposed to be of course. Everything in him was telling him to move faster than he was able to, it had taken a considerable amount of time to just get that bit of info that told him he needed to check out that Island. Whatever it was Sunshine had that could be used, wasn't activating still, as he hadn't heard a whisper of an update yet.

000

Shinso let out a huff of air as Kaminari came too behind him. The purple haired boy remembered what had happened with the other, but Kaminari likely didn't himself.

"Hows your head?" He asked, wanting to stretch but the grey fabric was wrapped tightly around them, tying them back to back together.

"Ugh,. Yeah? What happened ?" Kaminari's movement made the fabric tighten for a moment before Shinso pointed out that struggling made it worse. He stopped and his head brushed against the others as he looked around their new 'room' "Are we in a kids room?"

"You tried to zap one of them when they took Stone away." Shinso began, feeling tired already as he tried to ignore the scribbled drawing of a happy caterpillar next to them on the wall. "They didn't particularly like that, which got me brainwashed after they knocked you out on the floor. They walked us into here, tied us up with my scarf, and here we are."

"And they put us in a kids room?"

"Apparently." Shinso said tiredly.

"Who are these guys any way? Are they all hell-hounds?!" Kaminari said again with frusteration that he couldn't move his arms.

"Presumably." Shinso answered again getting tired of the questions, even though it was easing some of the tension. "It might be-"

The door opened, and a woman, wearing leggings with patterns on it that would make a boy blush, and dyed long hair walked in. She looked thoroughly displeased with seeing the boys there. Like they were just one of the many of her small hoard that followed her in. Shinso noted that she looked kind of like aizawa, exhausted. Children came in around her legs, some of them ignoring the presence of two tied up young men in the room, and some stopping dead in their tracks to stare at them.

"Hey, Hey Miss 4, Who are they?" one of the children, who looked about 7, with messy brown hair pulled at her skirt.

The woman, 'miss 4' regarded them carefully. Before rolling her eyes and letting out a sigh. "That's our new guests. Why don't you all go say hi."

That seemed to be all the permission the children needed, some of them any way. A few others, Stayed behind, notably the younger ones. Shinso noted their ages, the youngest appeared to be 2, and clinging to miss 4's leg, the oldest ones appeared to be 8 maybe 9. There was two who followed the group in last, they appeared to be 11 or 12. a boy and a girl. He popped out of his thoughts as they were practically rushed by the small pack of kids despite the stragglers. He also noted that the kids were all wearing loose fitting shifts, except for the older two. Their clothes looked a little more like long robes.

"h-hey kids!" Kaminari Tried to be playful with the kids, even given his state.

"I'm Anna" A little girl stated, being the first of the kids to come forward, to speak up. Shinso and Kaminari were the most interesting people in the room. "Whats yours!" She asked.

"I'm Chargebolt!" Kaminari replied with ease, elbowing Shinso through their bindings, who managed his name out as well; "Shinso."

the younger kids seemed awed by his choice of name, an older boy with his arms crossed looked less impressed then the younger ones. "That's a stupid name."

"It's not a stupid name." Kaminari defended, Shinso felt his eyes roll in his head. "If my name is so stupid, what's yours?"

The kid just scoffed at him while the rest of the kids began to hurriedly give their names to the pair. Shinso remaining quiet and accepting that he was being jostled around by the movement of Kaminari interacting with kids. Before a gremlin was attracted over to him, and proceeded to go for his hair.

"Your hair looks funny! Why'st it purple?" The child asked, getting a handful of it into his little fist.

"It just grows that way, please let go." Shinso tried his best not to get mad at the child, they didn't look older than 3 or 4 at best. He winced as the kid pulled it once more before he was saved by another child telling him not to pull peoples hair.

"Are you guys gonna stay with us?" another child, wearing a shift dress with floral red patterns. Asked them, her eyes big and hopeful and the two boys had no answer for her.

"Uh. Yeah probably?" Kaminari asked, nervously, remembering their predicament and looking over towards miss 4. Who just looked at him and then went back to looking at her phone. Shinso found a thing that was made of blocks in his face.

"Hey! do you wanna see my blocks!" Cried a child, in a shift dress with spaceships on it. The thing infront of Shinso's face barely looked like a Spaceship, he tried to feign interest. "I made a spaceship! This is where the garden is where they grow their space food," He gestured to a green section of it, barely clinging on. "This is is where you keep the people space suits, and this is where you keep the puppy space suits."

"Do you wanna color with me?" He heard another child ask Kaminari. Who seemed completely unphased by the fact he didn't have the ability to 'color' with his hands tied. Shinso could only assume he was taking the crayon in his mouth or pencil or whatever, because he was jerked back as Kaminari did so. The strange sound Kaminari was making as he tried to 'color' holding a pencil in his mouth. Much to Shinso's discomfort and childs mirth, eventually this ending with the kid showing Kaminari how to color properly.

"Whats your favorite animal?" Another child was in front him, trying to get his attention now that the that spaceship-child was gone. A little girl was pleased to have his attention, tugging on her shift dress, plastered in dolphins. "Mine's dolphins! I grew so I got a new one and this one has dolphins on it!"

"Thats.. nice?" Shinso tried, hearing his classmate, engage in some childish amusement.

"I really like dolphins, cuz they swim in the ocean, and their like whales but their not whales. They also swim really fast!" She ran around and then behind him and did a jump in the air pretending she was a dolphin. Shinso had no idea how to react to that, just trying not to look to mean about it. "I can do a really good dolphin impression!"

As the child began making screeching noises like a dolphin, or a dying cat, the little boy watching her grabbed the bottom of his dress and ripped it up almost completely removing it. Screaming at the top of his lungs. "I CAN SHOOT LASERS!"

Right before the oldest girl hoisted him up, and carried him away. Shinso had already scrunched himself as low as he could to avoid the un-fired laser. He noticed the looks of alarm from the other kids, and was concerned he wasn't alone in that fear. He could still hear the childs desperate cries as he was carried further away. "I wasn't gonna fire my laser for real, _Skillet_!"

He would have to thank "Skillet" later for saving his life.

"hey! What are you puppy powers!" A little red headed child demanded of them, her little hands balled into fists and her face expectant for an answer. Shinso barely reacted but Kaminari suddenly went dead silent. Though he couldn't see his face, his co-hostage finally got the bigger picture.

"Alright pups, its time for snacks and then nap time, you've pestered them enough." Miss 4 called to the kids, which lead to much complaining from the small pack of children. One particular one on Kaminari's side demanding that he did not want to go to snack without Chargebolt. "He'll be fed later, its time for you to eat, however."

Miss 4 herded the pack of 'puppies' away into another room with the help of the older boy. With the kids out of the room silence fell as the woman turned fully to them, regarding them apathetically. "You two are only here because of your friend." She stated, looking like she was simply telling them because she was told to. "If I were you, I'd hope I had something we can use, otherwise," She just shrugged. "Any way we'll feed you later, so don't worry."

And she walked out to, leaving the boys in silence.


	33. Facade

Chapter 33

"Facade"

Being held captive without much discussion wasn't exactly Ideal. Shinso and Kaminari had no idea what was going on around them though they had come to more fully understand that they were on a boat due to eavesdropping. What else could a pair of tied up teenage boys really do at that moment?

A rather normal looking man with messy blonde hair walked in. He was carrying clothes in one arm, along with Handcuffs and what looked like a syringe of what was definitely some kind of drug, capped however. Next to him walked a hell-hound Shinso could only describe as 'sickly' and arguably to thin and lanky but none of these details seemed to bother the creature. Its eyes were empty unlike Alarice's which had a full glow in them.

_~hold still~_

Came the command from the Hound, this one was the one that had helped kidnapp them, and also, stop them from fighting back when they had been 'hatched' here. Where ever here was. The plain looking man came over after putting down the items on a table. He began to untie the grey capture cloth eventually completely untying both boys, Shinso opened his mouth to speak but shut it, noting that the hound was now growling at him, audibly. Best to not.

_~Stand up, and let Arcade do what he wants to you.~_

"Hey!" Shinso heard Kaminari bark out as they stood up, still back to back.

A sigh left Arcade's mouth, though, and he only casually grabbed the handcuffs from the table, placing them closer and grabbing the needles. It didn't take long for whatever 'he wanted' to be done. Arcade had with a practiced ease, given them both the injection, and cuffed them both.

"Whats in the needle?" Shinso asked, he wasn't likely to be told but, what was the harm in asking?

Arcade looked taken aback, and looked towards the hell-hound, whose skinny ear just flicked, but, whatever he was saying wasn't something you could hear with your ears and Shinso didn't receive the message.

"It's just a suppressant. It's not going to hurt you." Arcade said, smiling a doctor's smile of forced reassurance at Shinso. "You boys don't need to worry, we're just making sure your more comfortable for now. Your Parasus's little sister's friends right?"

Shinso didn't say much but gave a nod, but his co-hostage however...

"Of course I'm friends with 'Rice! Where is She?" Kaminari stated, still being still but his tone carried his worry for her.

"She's fine too! We came to take you to have some dinner with her." Arcade again said with a smile. It was starting to grate on Shinso that this man was trying so hard to make sure they 'knew they weren't going to die' yet.

_~follow arcade and I.~ _

Heck-hound told them, and the boys were forced once again to do what they were told. Walking an even, pace with Arcade leading and the hell-hound bringing up the rear. They headed into a room that was actually decently lit up, a pleasant looking dining room. There was a few people there, very few however. They were lead to a table, Sitting at the table was Parasus, and Alarice.

Shinso was immediately concerned, something was off with his classmate. She wasn't wearing her clothes, or at least didn't appear to be, under the over sized shirt she was wearing. There was a gauze bandage over one of her ears. If Kaminari noticed these details, he didn't show it.

"'Rice! Hey!" Kaminari felt his body hold him back. "Hey Arcade you said she was fine! She's not fine!"

"She is, she's alive." Arcade said very quietly. So much so Shinso didn't think Kaminari even heard him.

"Denki, Shinso."Alarice picked up her head, to Kaminari's call. She got up, slower than Shinso would have thought she could. She came over to them both and notably, Arcade moved to the side to stand next to Parasus, Heck-hound still stood at the back. More surprising was that she hugged both of them, before Parasus made a noise and she reluctantly walked back slowly to the table.

_~do what Parasus tells you to~ _

With that Heck-hound seemed to walk over to another table where his clothes had been placed, and changed back and quickly redressed himself. Parasus smiled at both boys as her sister re-seated herself. "Please sit down and join us, it's been quite a bit and I'm sure both of you boys are hungry."

What else could they do? They sat down, Parasus making quite a loud clicking noise with her tongue. "So," She stated, Shinso realizing with a disturbing clarity that what she had showed at UA, was an absolute Facade. Now she was creating another one in front of them. "Tell me about yourselves, boys."

Shinso wasn't inclined to do so, and Surprisingly neither was Kaminari. There was a pair of women bringing out what smelled strongly of meat and vegetables. "I wont bite, your my sister's friends, so for now, your safe."

He didn't think, that Alarice was very pleased about that fact, the way she was becoming more unreadible by the minute, as food was put down on the table.

"w-well ma'am, I'm Chargebo—" Kaminari began.

"please, I know your first name now, your real name." Parasus interrupted

"Kaminari Denki." the blonde finished placidly, Food set out, Parasus not even waiting, just getting a leg of meat at soon as possible. Grabbing another and putting it on Alarice's. A bandage peaked out from Alarice's sleeve as she moved.

"I know what Quirk you have," She made almost flirty look at Kaminari, Shinso suddenly glad he was between the two. "It's very enlightening, very strong quirk."

Kaminari blushed, Shinso nudged his foot, before Her ice cold eyes were on him now. "But you, You I don't know anything about, Alarice was very reluctant to say anything beside you being her friend."

"I am." Shinso responded stiffly, rising a bit to the womans challenge, and returning her eye contact. She smiled with teeth at him. Alarice gave him a sympathetic look at him, trying to apologize with eye contact.

"Give me your name." There was the compulsion Heck-hound had laid down, fading he felt, as the hound was now a man.

"Shinso Hitoshi." His voice came out calmer this time.

"Your Quirk?"

"Telepathy" He lied, relieved he could do so. Though the way she let out a laugh, and smile, suggested she was about to call his bluff. Technically, it wasn't _entirely_ wrong.

"Alright, well, best you two eat. We have guests we're going to talk to." She took her own advice and began eating. Alarice picking at it before eating more and more herself. Shinso and Kaminari, slower to indulge but he began to indulge properly, they were going to need the energy later.

As they were eating, their guests showed up, a young man, Wearing simple clothes but ornate, and a ring with what looked like a living flower on it. Flanking him was what had to be identical twins. "Manticore! I see you have acquired more young for your nursery."

"Flowers! I see you brought your day and your night!" Manticore, Parasus, Responded. A cheerful toothy grin as she welcomed him to the table. Shinso watching this display, and taking it in. "Where is your Sea and your Sky?"

"Out on a mission of their own, I think you'll appreciate it." Flowers said, the sweet tone like honey on his words, though the flower on his hand shifted just a little. Shinso immediately knew he shouldn't trust this man, or his Day and Night, who looked far to pleased to be there. "And I do have good news for you, I was successful, the thing you asked for has already been placed in storage."

Manticore's eyes lit up to Shinso's surprise, she was actually happy about whatever that was. They all settled into their seats, though he noticed Flowers was now checking out the three teenagers at the table. Manticore didn't miss this.

"This is my little sister, Alarice, she hasn't earned her name yet, and these are her friends, Shinso, and Kaminari."

A malicious look spread on the three newcomers faces at the mention of Kaminari's name.

"Oh ho, UA students as our surprise guests? That's quite the bold move from you Manticore." Flowers's voice despite being still honey sweet, didn't completely hide his slight discomfort at such a revelation.

"Well, since that golden bitch decided to move my little sister to UA I didn't have a whole lot of choice did I?" Manticore cut back at Flowers, who raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I concede, obtaining your little sister was a goal as important as any. I assume though this means you'll be leaving us soon?" He responded, lowering his hands as his Day and Night began to feed themselves from the table's supply.

"Very likely, there's a handful of things we have to do, then we'll likely be leaving tonight."

Shinso felt cold immediately, looking across he could see the sudden Panic, real panic in Alarice's eyes. It did not make keeping his cool any easier, Kaminari had stopped moving for a moment too. Realizing what 'leaving tonight could mean for them.

"ahh Excellent, and, if I may be so bold with our current guests here, will I receive my puppy for my work?" Flower's asked, finally showing some form of concern even with a mouthful of meat.

"Of course you will, I'm giving you one of my own, directly." Manticore replied taking a drink and showing no discomfort either. Shinso found himself immediately wondering which of the kids he'd met earlier were Parasus Stone's children.

"One of the new Matriarchs own, That's to kind."

"Hardly, you've been a excellent host, Flowers, You deserve nothing less." She finished her glass, 'dinner' continued with the unease knowledge that Shinso had gained, and the adults around them enjoying their food and making pleasant small talk. It ended just as casually, With Shinso and Kaminari being taken back to the room, cots had been laid out for them. Alarice had not been allowed to join them, being lead forcefully away, likely with the aid of heck-hound's compulsion.

000

There it was. Tenshi Island, it was big enough to be considered just a small island, but only barely. It had a intense small mountain on it with jagged edges. The historic manor was built into it, visible from a distance with its single high tower. The rest of it thick and lush forest. As Eraserhead kept his distance, he could see the small cruise ship sized vessel docked at its side. The Tenshi clan were more than wealthy enough to own their cruise ship. Though their docks where sparse. They had two, sort of, the small cruise ship and a currently docked speedboat took up its entirety. There was a smaller, entirely wooden looking one closer to the 'front' of the island.

And powerful enough to keep a island that size as a private property, and barring any one or group they didn't like from entering it.

Which was a problem, that high tower likely had some one keeping watch, as did that cruise ship. His boat was small, but it wasn't invisible. He dropped a message to the appropriate persons that there was a cruise ship still docked there, at the barely capable port.

Waiting till nightfall was the best course of action, which wasn't that hard, it was only another hour or two. He'd gotten himself enough back up fuel, to do that. He'd been preparing for a decent journey after all.

As night fell and it lit up, Eraserhead knew he was right. Both lighthouse and watchtower, lights popping up on the cruise ship as well. He began his quiet approach, aiming to get on to the island, to the right of the jagged range, where the tower wasn't likely to see his boat as easily. The next question was were to put his boat? If he was smart, and was in control of this island, he'd have patrols walking the beach. Perhaps if it only appeared washed up?

It was what he went with, having a controlled 'beaching' of his one man ship. Taking what was useful and heading further inland, to take stock of the situation. Before him, his dark attire blending him into the shadows around him.

It was to dark to also tell what was going on the the ship, even with the excellent tiny binocular's he had. The best he could tell was that it was patrolled, and that there was a sleeping dog.. no a hell-hound laying at the port, near the main entrance. It raised its head up to look when a group of three individuals walked by, but they gave him something, and he relaxed back down again.

Well, he had a sign hell-hounds were indeed, on the island. He passed that info along too.


	34. Not Quite John Wick

Chapter 34

"Not quite John Wick"

With darkness wrapping everything, it became harder to see the woods around him, settling himself into a tree he could safely be hidden in while he observed the operations on the ship. Keeping a close eye on the comings and goings of the people aboard it. The lighting made it easy to even more easily confirm that there was assuredly hell-hounds on the ship. Something that gave him pause, was the sudden the wind shift and his smell be carried towards them. They were using one as a obvious guard dog, though as he waited for the hell-hound to shift forms, to his surprise, they never did.

Then again He'd only timed Alarice's form maintenance and was significantly bigger than this individual, her time very likely did not match that of other hell-hounds.

Things began to lull, and he took that time to briefly come down from the tree, and correct that 'aizawa-smell' issue. Settling back into his look out position, hating that he was taking such a slow approach when his kids where in trouble. Even so, he couldn't possibly take on this group by himself, the best he could do is perhaps infiltrate, and that required an opportunity. He noted that many hell-hounds were pacing on some of the other decks, as both dog and human.

At some point, probably around 4 or 5 am, Aizawa forced himself to lightly sleep, secured to his spot and confident that he was not easily reachable or find able. He needed to rest himself at least a little, which was all he was able to manage. It was extremely early in the morning, the sky just starting to lighten, when he picked up on motion. He recognized this one coming out of the ship, another pair coming out with her and setting up some sort of 'play pen'. Parasus, who let the other two do the work, settling next to the Hell-hound who perked up as she offered it something.

Whatever it was she was feeding this hell-hound, there was a level of softness Eraserhead wasn't prepared for. She was.. kind to this one. Kind like you would to a cherished family dog but kind all the same. Moving herself and the Hell-hound to guard this 'play pen' that was now set up. He was further not prepared for what he saw next: a Hoard, no a pack of children, emerged behind a woman, wearing a simple outfit. To his continued surprise, the kids deposited their clothes, and shifted into hell-hounds. Tiny, puppy sized hell-hounds, two smaller ones bowling themselves over in excitement.

That wasn't the only sight that surprised him.

000

Shinso was followed out by Kaminari, both a little tired, hungry, and still a little frustrated by the situation. Compulsions laid on by heck-hound meant that while they were still cuffed they were 'helping out' and escaping was not likely. Shinso pushing the ice chest with some confusion out onto the secured docks.

"oh my god." Kaminari said, eyes locking onto the site before them. "Their so much more adorable than I _thought."_

"_What?"_ Shinso looked at him with a combination of confusion and a touch of disgust. Did he forget that these were children? Or was Kaminari that soft-hearted of an individual? A small hell-hound closest to them let out a little grumble growl, and proceeded to trip over her own front feet in her rush to get over to them.

"Puppies!" Kaminari couldn't stop himself, they were just so adorable. There was a sudden stern look from Miss 4, "you can play with them." She mumbled. Before she herself also stripped down, to the two teenage boys blushing reaction, and shifted herself into a hell-hound. If a hell-hound could look like a graceful deer, she did. The dyed hair carried over to her hell-hound form as well, giving her a interesting appearance over all. She waded into the group of puppies without issue even as several tried to playfully bite her.

The variations of hell-hound before them were numerous despite the lack of obviousness to what their 'puppy powers' were.

Shinso made note that the two oldest kids were likely the two larger hell-hound puppies, their juvenile forms were dead give aways. He couldn't tell gender at all however, though. One was a slick, almost steel like scaled hound, even the skull-face had a metallic sheen. The other was difficult to discern. Some of them had the weird little fists that Alarice had on her tail. A few others had obvious tellings that they would get larger. Others had more scales, some had more furr, some had ridiculously sized ears.

All of them, however were puppies, and Kaminari had no issue playing with them. "Hey guys! You wanna play?"

They needed no words as he was charged by them as a pack. A few grabbing, even tearing at the ends of his pant legs. Kaminari took care to not hurt any as he leaned down to play with the smaller ones who were trying so hard to be 'scary' but clearly weren't. He was immediately pounced on by one of the slightly bigger kids, almost knocking him to the ground completely. "Hah! Come on guys I'm handcuffed! Take it easy on me!" His tone did not suggest he actually cared.

Shinso watched Kaminari get literally dog piled by a bunch of excitable dog-children, tails wagging excitedly. "Do you need me to save you?" He asked, squatting down near Kaminari's still visible head. One of them grabbed some of Kaminari's blond hair, and was giving a few tugs before they stopped.

"Nah. I'm good man." Was the blondes response, as he rolled, knocking puppies off, and continued to roll as they chased after him yipping, chirping, whining. Pretty much any and all noises they could manage.

~_hey_~ Came a tiny voice in Shinso's head, before a pair of jaws closed on his arm, albeit gently, and tried to 'tug on him.' ~_hey play with me purple puppy_~

He opened his mouth to speak instead being cut off in his own mind ~_no! I'll show you! I'll get in trouble if they know I'm using my puppy power!_~ They let go of his sleeve, and bounded over and swiped what was definitely a dog toy, and bounded back over with it, slinging it at him. It hit him in knees. thankfully, it was made of rope. Sighing, Shinso settled all the way to the ground, lazily playing tug of war with the kid. ~_Thank you! Everyone else plays to rough_!~

Before he could clearly think about a question she was already answering it. ~ _I'm small for my age but, I'll get big soon!_~ He sighed and thought about her 'puppy power'._ ~ we're not supposed to use them, unless told otherwise. That's all. Also this one is secret! My actual one is really cool!_~ He didn't even need to ask before she continued ~ _I can turn invisible! But I can only whisper when im lookin at some one!_~

Shinso let her win a few times, keeping his thoughts focused on the puppy rather than letting them dangerously wander. Though his attention was forced to shift again, as a dominating shape took form. The colorful , glittering bronze mane made this hound look regal like a lion... She was also terrifyingly gigantic, with a dark black, scorpion style stinger on her tail.

That had to be Parasus. Was.. was that how big Alarice would one day be? She dwarfed all the other adult hell-hounds, who were completely unphased by this. She settled herself at other end of the dock, where it met land. As if to guard these puppies, and two hostages. She Yawned and it was like seeing an alligator's maw... To big. Especially with a size comparison to an adult man, walking right up next to her. She could bite him in half and not even notice. He didn't seem bothered as he walked up and stuck one hand into her mane.

The puppies, of course, didn't seem to care at all. A few stopped and looked, but thoose few were soon back at play.

Playtime went on for a little bit longer, Miss. 4 Getting up, her long legs easily carrying her over the kids without issue again. Before she transitioned to a human again, non-chalantly putting her clothes back on. "Alright pups, get your clothes back on, it's time to cook breakfast."

The kids around them were quick to hop off of their new favorite playmates, and run over to their outfits. Some being good puppies, and transforming back into kids and putting their clothes on obediently. Others were grabbing their clothes and throwing them around instead.

A few moments of herding, and even a growl or five, and most of the kids where back into their clothes. "Skillet do you mind?" asked the young boy who had opened the ice chest. The steel colored hell-hound was clearly skillet, she nodded and remained laying on the ground.

"YAY! Skillet's gonna do the thing!" One of the kids cried, the older boy pulling out a carton of eggs to Kaminari and Shinso's confusion as they watched. Some of the kids were chanting 'Skillet!' others were continuing to pull things out of the chest. Apple juice, plates...

"Shinso... are they gonna cook eggs? On.. that one?" Kaminari leaned over to Shinso, as they watched the boy with the egg carton, as he put it down, and grabbed a cloth. Gave the other one a quick' wipe' with the wet cloth. Which was immediately steaming and rivulets boiling off.

"Looks like it." Shinso watched the older one, literally crack an egg, and drop it on the other hell hound, where it immediately started to cook. The Kids all around watching with awed amusement, a few others making joyous noises. Each egg drop met with ooooos and awwws..

A mix of horror and amusement on the teens faces as indeed, breakfast was cooked on the side of another hell-hound, who for amusement when they were done, allowed a egg cracked on her face, which she then ate as soon as it was cooked.

Surprisingly, the eggs did taste good.

000

Well, there was his kids, two of them any way. Shinso and Kaminari were both alive, and they looked like they were at least fed. From where he was at he couldn't see any signs of abuse or harm. Kaminari seemed to be handling being kidnapped particularly well compared to Shinso.

Then there was Parasus, There and absolutely gigantic. There was no way he could safely retrieve his own two students, not with 4 adult hell-hounds. Though it was a relief to know that two of t hem were alive and well. Though the handcuffs they both were wearing were a reminder despite the sight, of the situation they were in.

Tension built up in his back, It was terrible, seeing them, and not being able to save them yet.

At least he could confirm that two of his students were alive still.

As he watched though, it clear something was wrong. There was a sudden alertness an alarm, the pups, children, taken inside quickly, including his own students. Considerably rougher than when they had been lead out.

He quietly dropped from his location, to get a better idea on what had them in a sudden tizzy. As dangerous as getting closer was, the info was far more valuable. Low, and practically invisible to them, he could hear the vague voices become more clear, and finally what they were saying.

"She got loose, We can't find her!"

"She has to be near by some where, check the whole ship, turn out every hole and hideaway on it, she's sneaky."

Parasus had to be the latter voice. Her heated voice and anger made her very obvious amongst the more panicky tones of thoose around her. The person they were talking about was likely Alarice. The only rational assumption he could make any way was that it was Alarice.

A conflict rose in his mind, go after the possible missing student? Or maintain vigil? There was a still a reasonable amount of doubt that it was Alarice, it could be some one else they were keeping hostage. They seemed to have quite a lot of thoose. He settled into keeping watch. Parasus staying human as she put on her clothes, patting that one hell-hound who never seemed to change on the head. His tail actually wagging as she did so.

"You two, Do a run around the Island." Parasus barked out two young women, who immediately changed, one a long, graceful looking hell-hound, and the other more bulky. They took off at a decent run. "You, Inform the Tenshi clan" Some one else nodded and shifted into a were-hound themselves, before leaping off in a opposite direction. He could hear Parasus cursing, before stomping her way inside.

Whoever had escaped, Alarice or not, had potentially given him an opportunity, and bought the rescue team some time to get here.


	35. Run, Run little puppy, run

Chapter 35

"Run, Run little puppy, run,"

Alarice was aware, somewhere in her head, that salt water was the last thing she needed to be soaking herself in. However, she had very little options available to her, as it was, and staying on the ship a second longer, after that night, was simply not going to happen.

She pushed it away and inhaled deeply, searching with her nose for any scent of her 'family' that had just _tried so hard_ to welcome her. A whisper of sound and she pushed herself back underwater, pressing herself into that tight little alcove she had found weathered into the side of old docks. Pressing her face up near the small spot of air, occasionally full of sea water itself.

Once the person was passed, she continued to swim, till she could find a spot to safely get out of the water and escape into the trees. After swimming uncomfortably long, she was able to do just that. Her heart was in her throat as she got into the brush as quickly as possible, shaking and wet.

Her ears elongated, even though the one was extremely sore, and as far as she could tell, useless to her. Finally she just went full were-hound. Inhaling, listening, everything in her screaming to pay attention.

Pay attention and get as far away as possible for now.

So she did that, scrambling to stay low, stay away from anything that smelled too much like another person or hell-hound if she could, eventually finding a tree, with massive roots and a hollow beneath it. Some place protected to hide and rest. She jumped at the chance, or, rather, crawled for it. She tucked herself into the hollow and for a moment, relished the brief comfort of being hidden.

She laid there under the protective roots of the tree, breathing hard and inhaling the moldy scent of wood and muddy dirt. The harsh smells of the rocks and plants growing around her hiding spot. A thing here or there, something crawled on her body, but staying still and hidden was preferable to alerting some one of her hiding place, because of a bug.

The moments under the tree began to stretch on, as she waited, and tried to rest herself. Every loud noise outside made her skin jump, and when it didn't, her own skin felt wrong to her. She drifted, from exhaustion into some state between awake and not, some still place where comfortingly, nothing mattered at all.

It wasn't really restful, whatever it was. The moment a dream tried to sneak in, she woke herself back up. She couldn't do it, she couldn't sit here under tree, like a scared animal. Movement was the only way she was going to keep the shame and guilt from affecting her. After a brief check, she crawled out from under cover, carefully.

Standing up felt weird, parts of her body aching as she did so. Her stomach felt sick, but she could do nothing for her physical ailments. Checking her surroundings again, while she rubbed at her wrists, before moving to somewhere else, again.

Sniffing for scents brought her the faintest smell of her Teacher.

A wave of guilt washed over her, and shame. Right, of course he was likely to show up, they were his students, and he was a Pro-hero. Her hands tightened against her clothes. She ducked down, and started to pull at the twigs caught in her hair and brush some of the dirt off. Eventually turning, and knowing she was heading away from her teacher, instead of towards him. She knew should go towards him, not away, but, she also couldn't face his silent judgment.

Her thoughts became a war as she slid down rocks, and continued on through the trees. Some telling her that she had to go back, others telling her she couldn't face him, just yet. He would be disappointed in her for leaving her friends behind, amongst other things.

She stumbled over a rock, and Alarice became a sprawled teenager in the grass and bushes, with light sniffling added in. Even as she picked herself up, tears were running down her face. Crying silently, she shuffled through the area, on hands and knees. Faintly, from her one good ear, she could hear what sounded like water, and she drove herself towards that. Heaving, when she finally got there, the pitiful little stream of water was barely enough to wipe the vomit off her face.

She was silent for a moment, her mind a storm of thoughts and recent memories.

"You're the one who escaped." came a voice that was familiar, but whose scent had been hidden by the smell of her own vomit.

"m-mar! " Alarice had stood up quickly, to face the other, whose face looked equally tear- streaked. The tension popped in the air as Mar moved fluidly, moving the water up from the stream, and pulling more of it out at her command; slamming Alarice in the chest, and using it bind her to a tree.

"Don't bother changing." Mar threatened, forcing water to gush out of the little source it was coming from, threatening to drown Alarice with the added water, even as the other struggled. It was a lot like trying to fight a current, any movement and she was pushed more against the tree's hard bark.

An awkward silence seemed to crop-up between the two, Mar hesitating to radio, or maybe she already was. Alarice couldn't tell, but she was staring awfully hard at her.

"Feeling shame? For running away? You should." Mar prodded, scolding the hell-hound at the same time. Alarice tried to glare back at her, sniffling even-so from her recent crying. Mar tightened the water around her, as she looked for some reaction from Alarice. More tears came from her face, both of them, crying.

"M-maybe, what about you then?" Alarice managed out, with some difficulty, feeling the water shift around her. "A-are you going report that you found me?"

Mar gave her no response, God the other's face was like a waterfall. They both probably looked terrible. "I'm thinking about it."

Alarice couldn't stop her panicked tears that rose up at the confirmation she was likely going to be going back to her sister's poor excuse for care. She tried to shift, trying to call Mar's bluff. Water collected around her face in a bubble, blocking off access to air. Just as she was about to inhale the water, the water moved away. "Don't test me,. Alarice... I have questions for you."

Alarice didn't say anything. She wasn't in a great position, and she had nothing to really say, and couldn't imagine what kind of info this woman wanted. She managed out the only thing she could; "If I answer, will you let me go?"

Another silent pause, aside from the sound of the creak, and their own wet sniffles.

"Is it true... Is it true your sister... is going to trade one of her kids to us? That she's been trading the kids to others?"

Alarice looked at Mar, not sure how to answer her, but she nodded.

"It is true." she said under her breath, still not releasing Alarice. More tears came form Mar's eyes, her shoulders shaking on top of that. She looked away from her, further confusing Alarice.

"You.. aren't okay with this?" Alarice asked, and wasn't surprised when Mar looked almost angry at her when she look at her again. She tensed up, waiting for a punishment from the other.

"Why would I be? It's disgusting to treat children that way! They're.. their children!" Mar hissed back at her, but the water did not threaten the other.

"I... I mean, you... If its not something you're okay with... then don't help them." Alarice said with some hesitance, not sure what to say either, but trying.

"You wouldn't get it." Mar growled back at her, the water increased in a threatening amount. The stream, after all, was still flowing.

"P-parasus isn't going to stop, she isn't going to stop using them..." Alarice said hesitatingly, not sure if she could continue, bile rising up her throat again. "She is just going to keep using any hell-hound she gets a hold of,... eve...even if they're her family."

Mar looked her in the eyes, and Alarice wanted to look away, meeting the others gaze, as if trying to convince her. Mar released the water, Alarice dropping onto the floor of leaves and grass. "You shouldn't leave them, then." Mar said, Alarice getting herself to her feet again.

Alarice stood there quietly, confused, and unsure, and inside, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Get! OUT OF HERE!" Mar barked at her, and Alarice ran off. Swallowing down her fear of running into her teacher, and following his scent as soon as she found it.

000

Aizawa hung back from engaging, tempting as it was. There were few, if any, hell-hounds about, spread out and searching for the escapee. The hell-hounds at the docks were alternating, save for the one who was always there. They came back at random times it seemed too, so that made timing things difficult. He pulled back to plan this out with a better view.

~Hello, hello, my good fellow~

Came a foreign chime in his head. Who the... He whipped around to find he source of the voice in his head. Quickly, before they could-

~_Do not use your quirk_, it'd be most impolite.~

He finally did spot them, their small dot like eyes, from beneath a bush, looking like some sort of nightmarish, undead dog waiting to attack. Their nostrils flared, and Eraserhead was about to move, as soon as he saw this, when he was struck hard, in the back of the head. A great weight landing on his back and pinning him to the ground.

~So arrogant, coming alone!~

The gaunt thing crawled out from under the bush, another came out beside him, eggshell colored. It trotted out of sight, moving around him, while the hound on top of him continued to lay on him. Eraserhead struggled to get the creature off of him.

~we always hunt in a pack!~

He was getting tired of this hell-hound's attitude, appearance, and overall the entire thing. Just as he felt the weight of the other get off of him, he suddenly felt himself some where else. Suspended almost, and he couldn't really see anything at all.


	36. 5-star Hostage treatement

Chapter 36

"It's going to be Intense"

It was something like being underwater. Deep deep underwater, where no sound could reach you, and you simply floated, too much between the bottom and the surface, so you felt like you were floating in empty space. It was restful, in its own way, he didn't have to think about breathing for one thing.

Actually, Aizawa thought, it was hard to think in general. He couldn't even tell if his eyes were really closed either, it was so dark he couldn't tell. Suspended in a space he had no ability to control, or move in. It was dark too, but sometimes there were faint, faint lights. But nothing really 'lit up.'

He was alone. Against his will he was relaxed, still, and waiting.

And then, he was on the ground, covered head-to-toe in egg whites.

It was soaked deep into his hair and... well everything else. Despite being a slimy mess, he was immediately set upon by two human-shaped hell-hounds. He let out a grunt of both pain and annoyance.

"I thought I smelled something familiar here." Parasus said, a smirk-like smile on her face with teeth, her head tilted to the side, and eyes boring into his. "Eraserhead, right?"

He said nothing to her, but that didn't seem to bother her. She shrugged, her hand become clawed, one of her hounds holding him down, pushed his head down, and she cut off some of his hair at the back of his neck. "Listen, as sweet as it is, that you'd even assume you had a right to take back even one of these kids... Its just not going to happen."

As Parasus spoke, they stripped off his gear, goggles, capture weapon, even checked his obvious pouches and emptied their contents too. Stashing the stolen items some where he couldn't see. She continued to speak; "Also, I probably owe you a thank you, as irritating as you've made my sister, your also a walking opportunity. A good quirk, and meat." She smirked as she looked back at him. "And, no offense, but you stink."

She waved the lock of hair she'd cut off in the air, Someone else cut a strip of cloth from his pants, and didn't bother to be careful, cutting him, and letting it soak into the cloth. They handed over the bloodied piece which Parasus tied to the hair. Someone began to tie him up, she looked back at him, holding hair and cloth bundle in her hand.

"Well, I'm sure she knows your here, but, this'll help. Go put him on ice, Thomas." Parasus directed, the hell-hound Thomas nodding, grabbing Aizawa and barely paying attention to their hero-captive's pace.

As infuriating as this situation was, rubbing salt into his frustration, he was taking stock of the area around him. Doing his best not to focus on what Parasus was planning with the cloth and hair, and more what he faintly heard as they were lead away. They were prepping to leave, as soon as they had Alarice back on board they'd leave. His capture had been confirmation that there was someone else, and they were aware someone might be following him.

Thomas jerked him roughly, as they passed through the kitchens. Aizawa started to sweat just a bit. Being 'put on ice' was literal, he realized. As Thomas, with some difficulty, held him and got the heavy freezer door open. Cold air fell out of the open door, and Thomas grabbed Aizawa with both arms, before shoving him in, hard.

"She's right." Thomas said, as he stood in the threshold of the freezer, and taking the chance to gloat at having a captured Hero. "You do stink."

There was a smile with all teeth, something feral and terrible in this man's face. He walked in, once the door was safely propped, and dragged Aizawa towards the back of the walk-in freezer. The shelves were lined with items, some of it meat, and much of it unidentifiable.

"Stinkin' delicious." Thomas continued, shoving Aizawa into the wall, hard. "Would prefer meat to be fresh, but, I'll look forward to the later feast we'll have."

Thomas turned and left, the freezer door slamming closed behind him. Leaving Aizawa with the faint cool light above, and the freezing air around him. His breath left little poofs in the air, '_Great, th__ey're __cannibals too.' _He forced himself to his feet with some difficulty, the only part of him not tied, and began to pace, to keep warm. Best to start now, and the activity would help him think of how to get out, and stop this before it went further.

For now though, his only job was to not freeze to death while he thought of an escape.

000

"You know, this is probably the cleanest hostage situation I've ever had to deal with." Kaminari said, giving a shrug as he came back from pacing, settling into the cot next to Shinso's.

"What?" The other asked, still perpetually confused but increasingly thankful to his classmate's positive attitude. The plight of these children, whether they knew it or not, as one, was troubling him deeply.

"It's clean." Kaminari repeated again, looking at Shinso with his eyebrow cocked up. "Like, have you seen the bathroom? It's extremely clean, like there's a hoard of children here and the bathroom is _clean_." Kaminari tried to gesture, but it was hard given that he was handcuffed.

"Yeah, the kids clean up after themselves. You saw them do this after playtime." Shinso commented, briefly thinking back to 'playtime' and growing concerned about what transpired just afterwards. They had been ushered back inside in a hurry, leaving the breakfast clean up to the adults. Playtime had continued indoors, and clean-up had followed right after. The boys were roped into both clean-ups.

"Yeah I just... listen man, this is like, 5-star hostage treatment." Kaminari stated, completely straight-faced, to Shinso. Shinso just stared at him back for a moment.

"How many times have you been kidnapped?" Shinso asked, just continuing to stare at the Blond. He just shrugged and laying back on the cot. Only to jolt up as the door nearly slammed in, and Parasus walked in, A familiar horrible face in the doorway, staring at them with this puny glowing eyes. Though no cold voice came into their minds, yet.

"Alright boys, I have an important job for one of you... Which one of you is actually friends with my dear little sister?" She asked, her face stone in its lack of emotion.

The two teens looked up at her confused, and intimidated by her sudden appearance. Kaminari trying to put on a tough face, tried to call her intention . "I am," he said. "I'm Rice's friend."

"Rice? oh. Right, alright then." Parasus looked bored, and disinterested before grabbing Shinso's arm, and with a quick movement, tore deep into the skin, enough to create a strong bleed. Blood welling up and running over his arm, Kaminari being mentally commanded by Heck-hound to hold still. Parasus collecting the blood-flow onto a long strip of white cloth. Refusing to release him till it was sufficiently soaked.

"Arcade, come fix up this boy's arm, now." She called, letting go of Shinso. The Blond doctor coming into the room, having looked like he had run to do her bidding. He was already ready to go with supplies. Parasus nodded to Arcade, already tying the blood soaked cloth to another piece of cloth and lock of black hair. Shinso didn't like that.

"Hey! What are you doing with that?" Kaminari asked, as Shinso was treated for his new wound. Aracade being quick and efficient in how he was treating the injury.

The woman turned back, and smiled; "I'm going fishing."

Shinso and Kaminari were on their own again, after that, The adult hell-hounds leaving them, without any more explanation beyond than that.

"Is it still 5-stars?" Shinso asked, voice dry and looking at his torn sleeve and fresh bandage beneath it.

"4-stars." Kaminari responded nervously, looking at the injury too.

000

Elsewhere on the Island, Alarice was laying as low as she could lay, in the densely forested area. As much as she appreciated Mar not reporting her, it hardly meant that she wasn't still in constant danger, or that tracking her teacher was easy. If anything she was getting concerned at how much of him she could smell. If she could smell this much, then so could any of the other Hell-hounds. It was probable he had relied on the wind, and he had tried to do something about it, but she could still recognized that smell.

Currently she was still a filthy mess of her own, having been just barely able to wash the smell of vomit from her person, but had run off too quickly from Mar. So evidence remained in the forest. She was pressed as tightly as she could, into the crook of a gigantic tree. Voices carried beneath her, it was someone else, and a Hell-hound with them.

A Tenshi clan member and a hell-hound? They weren't very visible from where Alarice was hiding.

The non-hellhound voice sounded a lot like Gale's. The Hell-hound was silent of course, just a dog shape for now, bulky but not terribly so. They smelled faintly of a recently burning fire, despite having no evidence of such an ability on them. Gale was talking largely to herself, as Alarice listened with her one good ear, and tried not to move. She could only faintly hear them, as they walked further and further away, their shapes getting more and more hidden by flora.

Gale was prattling on about some matter that meant nothing, especially not right now, Alarice imagined. As she reached some climax of her story, the pair came to a complete standstill as the crackling of a radio went off, Gale having to grab it and turn up its volume clearly. This action allowed them to hear it better of course, but also, Alarice.

"My Knights, we're about to have some very unwanted guests." the voice said, no hint of emotion on it. " Return to me."

Alarice could barely see them through the leaves and branches of other trees from her spot. The hell-hound had no response, just growling, though she couldn't see what it did with its head. Nor could she see Gale's posture, just very suddenly the hound was thrown to the side, branches, leaves, were tossed to the side violently. She heard the thunk of a large branch falling and the creak of wood snapping that proceeded it. The smell of blood crept into her senses. There was a soft whining sound right after that, that became a human's choking noises of pain.

"Bye" was all she heard Gale say, before she took-off running, leaving the hell-hound where ever she had knocked them to. Alarice remained in her spot, as Gale ran off, and she waited till the sound and smell of Gale had lessened sufficiently. The smell of blood was increasingly strong as she waited, before jumping down from the tree, and heading over to investigate.

They were female, naked, with a significant gash running from hip to shoulder. Another similarly deep one that she couldn't see the 'end of', simply that it went around her body. The smell of blood was horrendously strong, and the sight not a good one. Alarice immediately regretted not coming down from her tree sooner, and unsure at the same time, if it would have made a difference. The woman was still alive however, as she groaned, head moving.

"uh.. h-hold still," Alarice blurted out, unsure what to do but training kicking in finally. She moved more quickly to the woman's side, and despite knowing it was a terrible wound, and having nothing she could use to stop bleeding, or even... The split was deep, and terrible, and the things coming out were a clear bad sign. The woman turned her head to look at Alarice, there was recognition, then hatred, then acceptance in her eyes. "I'm gonna try to help you."

"G-great.. its you. Don't bother, pup," She was remarkably clear in speech. "I can feel how bad it is." She swallowed and Alarice tried not to look away. Alarice didn't know how to help her either, so she didn't know how to put up an argument to that.

"What can I do?" Alarice asked her cautiously, unsure of it was even possible to rile a dying woman's temper. Silence would have followed for a moment, if it wasn't for her choking noise and the flowing tears.

"I'm thirsty, but... ya ain't got any water on you, do you?" Alarice shook her head no. "I know it wouldn't help.. but.. ." There was a morbid smile on her face, "Can't help it, it's another sign you know.." Alarice didn't say anything, the woman continued to cry, softly. Not knowing what to do, Alarice found the stranger's hand instead. "Just... stay with me. I know its coming, the end."

"I can do that." Alarice said quietly back, holding the dying Hell-hound woman's hand. "W-whats your name?"

" Moxy. " She paused, breathing in and out with difficulty. "I... didn't want to be out here, but your sister, she can be very persuasive." There was a moment of silence, Alarice thought she had passed but her eyes were still normal. She started to mumble, whine, moving weakly as she did. Few words were exchanged after that, mumbled apologizes, mumbled comments that at-least the forest around them as beautiful, before things were silent.

The smell of the woman's corpse was surely bringing trouble, but there were faint howls and barks all around on the island. Trouble was already there and around them. The Tenshi clan's knights were clearly betraying the hounds. Shaking, she gently finished closing the other's eyes, before taking-off into the rest of the forest. Sick again, and this time determined to get back to the ship, and get her friends.


	37. Eraserhead Vs the babysitter

Chapter 37

"Eraserhead vs the babysitter"

He handcuffed his own, previously warn hand cuffs around the solid pipping and to the unconscious hell-hound user's wrists. Making sure the freezer was shut too, it was a treasure trove of evidence.

Those were_ not_ hot pockets in there.

He had to find his kids, right now, he did not have any more time to spare. The other heros would be arriving soon, hopefully in force. Eraserhead cautiously prowled around the ship, back to where he was sure they had stashed his gear. All things considered, for such an organized group, this was disturbingly easy.

Then again, being underestimated was the benefit of people not exactly knowing who you were in much or any detail. Nevermind a group not originating from Japan, dealing with a local, secretive, Hero from Japan.

Whatever the cause, he managed back to the room he was fairly sure he'd been stripped of his gear in, and managed to reclaim it before having to press himself into an alcove to avoid the patrol hell-hound's attention.

Before, of course, taking them to the ground, and zip-tying them as well, while they laid semi-unconscious on the ground. In addition to, moving them elsewhere, to avoid them being found by an errant patrol, and completing that unconscious state for them with a fierce hit. They'd be fine later, just headaches and shoulder pain.

Which was only a little bit annoying to him. Only a little.

His phone still functioned, surprising him that they hadn't crushed it, but, it still worked, and the news was good news. Sunshine's main group was heading over, with a small group going on head of them, being airborne. No direct names but the news was very good indeed, they'd be there very soon, so it was his task to secure the kids. All 15 of them.

He found a map stuck to the side of the ship, confirming it was once a real, small cruise vessel. Ironically, family oriented, given the small cartoon, happy lobster in the corner. He committed the info to memory, getting a little small communicator hooked over his ear were it would stay. It was finally going to be useful, and any minute now he was going to be needing the bits of information from his soon-to-arrive allies. Now all he needed was Intel on where they were keeping either his kids, or all the kids.

His chance came soon enough, coming up behind a blond man going through some papers on a desk. Eraserhead found it quite easy to both bend the other over, and quickly restrain him. Holding him quite firmly by the scruff, well, back of the head, his hand buried in the others hair.

"Where are you keeping the kids?" He growled, "this'll be easier on you if you just tell me."

A minute's silence while the other twisted mildly. "You'll leave those kids alon—AGhj!"

His hands shifted from holding the back of the man's head, to his arm and shoulder, and proceeded to dislocated the other's right arm. "I can do the other if you'd like."

"No! Fine!" He let out a little gasp. "They're down below the main deck, its really obvious; it was the nursery for little kids on this ship before we took it over."

"There now, that wasn't so hard." Eraserhead pulled him out of the chair, letting him drop onto the wounded shoulder, before binding his ankles, too. He stopped in the doorway of the room before entering back into the main hall, checking to make sure it was clear again. "I better not have to come back." With that he left another hell-hound on the ground bound up.

The Nursery's location had been well marked on the map. Probably so parents could always know where their kids were. It wasn't necessarily a strategically solid place for hiding kids, but it was a logical place to put them. Already done up and ready for kids to inhabit it.

Making it there was much of the same as before, sneaking, avoiding, quietly taking down just one more unaware guard hell-hound, though they looked more like a young man, barely of age to be doing 'guarding' at all. He didn't think about it too much, before making sure they weren't going to be running up to bite him literally in the ass, later.

As he approached the Nursery, he could definitely hear voices, chipper, peppy voices of small children. They were arguing about something as children were prone to do. Were they...

They were. They were arguing about who was going to get to play with 'chargebolt' first. He kept that sigh to himself, hearing a woman's voice calmly ushering these kids to just be calm and continue to color.

Staying low, as the walls had clear glass, albeit frosted, along them. There were two doors, if memory was correct, then Nursery room had two sections within it, with a connecting door inside. He walked past the door, behind which was filled with the chatter of youth, to the other, more silent one. Risking the chance, Eraserhead took a peek.

He quietly opened the door and slipped in , to the wide-eyed, but quiet looks of appreciation from his two students. Finger to his lips, the two boys nodded as he got their restraints off, and pretend to ignore the bandages on Shinso's arm. The two of them rubbing at their red wrists from having been handcuffed for so long.

"Oh man, thanks! It's a relief to see you, this place is nuts." Kaminari whispered to him, trying to shake off the nerves that were clearly present. Shinso didn't look too affected but the kid was always a hard read. "They've weirdly taken care of us, but there are all these children here, but.. they're.."

"Parasus is trading them, like favors. She's chosen to give one of the kids over to the group they're working with here, to some guy who calls himself a Knight of Flowers." Shinso finished for Kaminari. "It's human trafficking."

Eraserhead nodded, "I'm going to be trying to get them out too,"

"Did you meet up with ric-Stone? Pretty sure she's the one who escaped." Kaminari asked

"No, she's somewhere else on this island." He stated, watching the two boys different expressions that their classmate's whereabouts were still unknown. Shinso caught the brief sight of Miss 4 heading their direction. Making a gesture to his teacher that someone was coming. 

Eraserhead readied himself for the attack, as the door came open, the slender woman who had been watching the kids came in. She had sparse few seconds to react before gray cloth was around her. She started to shift to a hell-hound form, before being forced back to human and pinned to the wall. An audible little gasp came out in the room before someone was tugging on Eraser's pant leg.

Not relinquishing his force on Miss 4, he looked down to see a solid blue eyed child, aggressively shaking his pant leg. There were tears threatening too as her little face reddened but she didn't let go.

"LET MISS 4 GO!" She yelled, "And give her back her puppy powers! Right now!"

"Anna.. He.. uh.." Kaminari completely failed to explain to the little kid what was going on. The rest of the kids had spilled through the open door and were gawking at the situation. One had attached himself possessively to Kaminari's leg, most of them looked very upset, a few near tears. Some were not... so, some looked ready to fight him. Particularly the two older kids, looked the most ready, though they moved themselves to protect the tinier kids. Big siblings protecting the smaller members of their pack. "He's a good guy!" was all Kaminari could finally add.

Many of the kids looked at him in disbelief. Anna in particular did not look convinced, in fact the crying got _worse_. Now she was just begging him to let Miss 4 go.

"shh, Anna, just go over to the others okay?" Miss 4, surprisingly, called. "Me and Mr. Hero are just gonna have a talk."

Eraserhead gave her quite the look for that, but she looked back at him, challenging him. With a deep sigh, he unpinned her, but did not untie her. The little pup finally let go only to be scooped up by one of the others, who gave him a withering look for making her cry.

"Skillet, Pip, take the kids back into the other room." Miss 4, commanded again, though there was some hesitation from the kids.

"Chargebolt, Shinso, why don't you go with them, too?" Eraserhead added on, which he was sure Shinso wasn't wild about, but with the two boys help, the pack was herded out of the room, and the door shut.

"Surprising amount of cooperation from someone willingly participating in human trafficking." Eraserhead prodded, gauging her reaction carefully as he let her sit down. She shot him a look for the comment then rolled her eyes.

"We're those kids' family, at least I am, that's not human trafficking." She responded, as if she'd been accused of it before.

"They're all kids of _willing_ members, of this association?" He questioned again, knowing full well that it was likely not the case at all. Not if the info from the past behaviors of hell-hound packs had been remotely true. Given what Shinso had said, was likely the case still.

"Yeah." Miss 4 answered defensively, " of course they are."

"You're not a very good liar." Was his own, curt response. "Either way, knowing or not, your 'boss' is trading one of those kids to your lovely hosts. Probably isn't the first time either."

"What? That's..." Miss 4 seemed to surprised by that, before glaring into the floor. "That's not what she promised me" She mumbled out under her breath.

Before Eraserhead could say anything else, red lights immediately flashed around them, and alarms sounded across the metal ship. Both villain and Hero shared an alarmed look at each other as there were loud thunks.

"They locked us in?!" Was Miss 4's suddenly energetic and anxious response. Then she started actually struggling against the capture weapon. Squirming violently but getting no where.

"The ship shouldn't have that..." Eraserhead quietly stated. "Why would they have it do that?"

To his own discomfort she turned to him and her eyes were filled with a barely hidden fear. "To keep people out of course, or..." She stopped squirming for a moment. "To keep people in. Listen, I'll help you get the kids out, if you'll let me go."

Despite their situation one of his eyebrows cocked up, not really believing her. "You know how to get out?"

"I can figure out how." She said with a shoulder shrug. "plus... do you think those pups are going to listen to _you_?"

To his chagrin, she had a point, and without saying much else he simply released her from the weapon's bindings. She gave him a nod before opening the door to the other side. "Alright pups. " She started. "We're going to be working with the power-stealer, it's like a little field trip but you have to listen, got it?"

There were several nods, a few small yeses, but mostly, just kids looking for someone to protect and guide them after the scary alarms had gone off. The same kid from before was securely attached to Kaminari's leg. Miss 4 strode over to a counter, and pulled out a map, lacking the cute cartoon lobster on it, and laid it out. She picked up one of the kids' crayons and began to mark out by memory where she'd remember seeing the added-on locks and heavy doors.

As she did that, there was a buzzing in Eraserhead's ear, his little radio going off and informing him that the teams were about to make landfall, and that Ryukyu's team, apparently herself , Miruko and Mic, of all people, were already overhead.

"Alright, here." Miss 4 said, getting his attention by laying out the map in front of him. "there's all the doors, I can probably knock out some of the electric warning systems but you'll want to keep back from me, when I do."

Eraserhead gave her a look. "you have an electrical ability?" Kaminari looked concerned from where he was standing.

"No, more like EMP, kind of ability. " She smiled thinly. "My code-name is actually 404."

He just nodded to that, looking back at the map she'd marked out. "It'll force the magnetic locks to release, since they won't have power, but some of them will still have physical parts, and they're going to be heavy." 404 clarified as they looked over the map.

They had at least 2 doors to get through, before they were able to get onto the main deck and onto the docks. His ear buzzed again, asking him for his status. He eyed 404 for a brief moment, then responded.

"On the Cruise ship. I'm with two students, and about 13 child hostages, with a turncoat." 404 looked displeased at this choice of words, but what could she do about it? Nothing. He listened quietly to their response and instructions.

"Alright, we're on our own getting out, 404?" He turned but the woman was already stripping down. The pre-teen she'd called 'Skillet' was taking her clothes from her as she shed them. Kaminari was turned around by Shinso, but the rest of the children didn't seem to care. Eraserhead quietly admitted he shouldn't be so surprised by the sight.

404 became the slender hell-hound from before, spines barely visible through soft fur running down her spine. With a denser cluster of them between her shoulder blades, poking through her colored mane. The boy opened the door and she slipped out quietly.

"You kids trust her a lot." Eraser commented, looking at Skillet still holding the clothes dutifully. The girl gave him a wary glance, before walking away from him completely, to wait elsewhere with the clothes. The rest of the pack who weren't curious enough to stare, walked away, too. One of them even growled at him.

From there, they just waited for a moment, the lights flickered on one side of the room, one of them going out. A few more tense moments later, and there was scratching at the door, and the sleek hell-hound was let back in, where she shifted back into her human shape, reclaiming her clothes.

"You're being really cooperative." Shinso said, cutting off any response from Eraserhead, who let out a small sigh.

Not pausing in putting her clothes back on, she just looked at Shinso. "These pups are my responsibility." and she bared her teeth, fangs appearing. "And, I don't like being lied to."

Shinso looked to Eraserhead, "We had a talk." was all he said.

Getting the little pack under control was easier with 404 around, delegating between the two older preteens, and handing the smallest kid over to the boy to carry. Though even as they got out, the door was proving almost impossible to move, even with a pro and two trainee's trying their best. The door barely budged.

"w-well... now what?" Kaminari couldn't help the stutter in his voice, the door had moved maybe an inch? He'd passed by these doors before and never even considered how they would function on the ship.

There was another silence as they examined the area around them. Suddenly, Kaminari's eyes widened. Running over to the pack of kids who were staying back as they tried the door. "Hey, kid how strong is your … laser?" He hoped he was looking at the right dark headed child.

"Really strong!" A dark haired kid announced, bouncing to get Kaminari's attention. "I can fire my laser!?" His little hands had already gone to rip off the shift, as he danced in place.

"You can't use one of my Pups that way." 404 growled, Eraser gave Kaminari a silent reprimand for the suggestion as well. The blond also deflating, just a little but the child, dubbed 'laser' now was still fiddling with his shift, waiting for the go ahead.

"Why not?" Skillet asked, suddenly getting the irritated look from 404, before she let out a frustrated sigh and just nodded. There was an excited noise from 'Laser' who ran forward throwing off his shift but getting caught by Kaminari.

"Wait, wait! Here, I'll hold you, you know,... to like, help you aim, and you can fire off the biggest, strongest laser you have, when I say 'fire' okay?" The little kid was shift-less and bouncing up and down in excitement and nodding. Neither 404 or Eraser were sure the kid was even listening to Kaminari but, either way, they both pushed everyone out of harms away as much as possible. Eraserhead very much unsure about this entire plan or idea.

"You sure about this, _Chargebolt_?" Eraser said keeping one of the younger, less fearful children behind his leg, though they didn't seem to appreciate his protective gesture. Laser was obviously the least apprehensive of the entire grouping.

"I am." Kaminari responded, holding the kid's shift in one of his hands, now. The child was quickly a pup, and scrambled up into Kaminari's arms. Scratching him a bit in the process, and Kaminari noting that the pup's drool was _glowing_.

"He drools out plasma, so be careful, Usually I play with him cuz it doesn't hurt me." Skillet called out to Kaminari. There was a few murmurs about what he may or may not have destroyed with his plasma drool. A few drips hit the ground and sizzled on impact to emphasis it.

"Thanks." Kaminari responded, feeling Laser's short fluffy little tail wag violently, slapping him many times. "alright Laser, give me a nod if you're ready."

The little drooling skull pup gave an excited nod. Some spit flying off and making Kaminari tense as it missed him and also landed on the floor. "Alright!."

A deep breath from the teen, and a short silence.. and then;

"_FIRE_!"

The little hell-hound pup, opened his glowing mouth, and fired off his laser.

Despite probably barely weighing in at 20 lbs as a puppy, and being a goofy, drooling mess, it was rather intense. The group, and especially Kaminari, were unprepared for what that looked like.

A beam, exploded out of the pup's mouth with ferocity, and brightness. Pups, teens and the two adults closed their eyes, as it was incredibly bright. Heat was immense, from closed eyes everyone could tell something was happening. Kaminari was massively unprepared for how powerful the laser was going to be, and he was launched backwards, managing to keep the laser aimed before falling onto his back.

Where, thankfully, the pup stopped firing, bouncing out of Kaminari's dazed hands to run around him in circles yipping and barking.

Eraserhead helped his student back up, subtlety giving Kaminari a once over for any burns. Skillet wrangled Laser back into his human form and then into his shift.

"I did it! I fired my laser! Did you see me!? I fired my laser! It was my biggest, too! I fired it just like Chargebolt said to!" He was still excited, despite yawning, and Skillet picking him up and carrying him on her back. After a few moments he was already quiet and yawning again. The two UA teens, and Eraserhead took in the sight of what Laser's...laser did.

There was now a gaping hole where the door, and some walls had been, that went all the way outside. There was glowing hot metal all over the floors that was in need of cooling. Some of the ceiling had been taken out too, probably when Kaminari had been unable to withstand the force while holding the puppy any more. Shinso looked at Laser with a mix of subtle horror and fascination on his face.

The other kids were breathing sighs of relief, and a pair who looked vaguely related, shrieked loudly. "Now WE can use OUR puppy powers!"

404 did not stop them, as the two puppies were pretty much immediately using their puppy powers on the hot metal. The reason she hadn't stopped them, was soon patently clear. The duo's puppy powers turned out to be handy for cooling down what remained, and moving things. One having what appeared something like telekinesis, and the other clearly had a cooling breath. The hallway filling with warm steam and the smell of burnt metal.

With an escape route made, and kids wrangled back into their clothes, the small pack followed Eraserhead and 404 as the two adults led the way out. Laser's blast had cleared them a spot all the way to the docks. Though getting from ship to dock would require them to jump from hole to dock. Eraser went first, then 404, and the two teens helped the pre- teens get the smaller children out. Lifting them one by one into either adult's waiting hands. Though, a few didn't particularly like being handled by Eraser for the few brief seconds he held them.

"Now were are going to meet up with your hero friends?" 404 asked, not sounding too pleased about it. Eraserhead looked towards the head of the island, where there was definitely the sound of action. The dock was too small to take more than just the cruise-ship currently there, and he could make out the faint shape of speed boats further down the beach.

There was a growling sound, as a Hell-hound, of what Eraser guessed was probably moderate size for one, rounded on them from the ramp on the ship. It was hairless, but not scaleless, its skin looked like the color of uncooked bread. Occasionally there were spots on its skin .

"Bun!" called 404, who sounded more angered than surprised. The hound's ears lifted but it still looked ready to attack. Eraser prepared himself for this, before 404 turned to him. "Do you have any bread on you? Crackers even?"

"What?"

"ugh, its 404! He's with us! Bun!" 404 tried to get the hell-hound's attention, but he was too interested in picking a fight with Eraser. Someone cried, the Hell-hound leapt, and Eraser's eyes flashed red, and now there was a naked, confused man entrapped in Eraserhead's capture weapon.

Who also began crying, adding on to the confusion of Eraser's day.

"You didn't have to do _that_ to him." she grumbled out, almost sympathetically annoyed for the sad hound-turned-man now being zip-tied on the ground. Eraser shot her a glare and she shut up. As he was done with 'Bun' on the ground, still sobbing, he felt a familiar cold voice in his head.

~404 what are you doing!? All of you, Stop!~

Unfortunately, everyone heard it.


	38. Dragon rider vs a Dragon

Chapter 38

"Dragon Rider vs a Dragon."

While Eraserhead was still on the boat, other things were happening.

Mic passed the information over that he and Ryukyu were already overhead, and heard it relayed to everyone else with an earpiece. Miruko's long ears shifted with hearing the little radio earpiece. Both human-sized Heros looked over the side of Ryuku as her great wings carried them right over to the tower.

"Should I give them a warning first?" Mic asked of his team, a slightly sinister smile on his face, given that a 'warning' was just him screaming. Miruko put her big paws over her ears and Ryukyu gave a dragon-like noise of confirmation.

"**_HHHHHHHHHHHHHHEY TENSHI CLAN ! HAND OVER THOSE SKULL-DOGGIES YOUR HARBORING!_**" Mic screamed out, leaning over Ryukyu's side to do so. Despite that it really was more of a 'warning shot' than a real attack, some of the windows on the the tower getting blown out. If Ryukyu was affected, though, she didn't respond in any way. She came to a quick landing, with no response, Miruko bouncing off her back before she touched down completely.

The three Heros were on the ground when a young-looking woman came up to them as they landed. She looked rather concerned, but she also looked like she was just a maid.

"I-I'm so sorry, most of the household is also being held hostage." She said rather nervously, shifting her grip back and forth on her clothes.

The three Heros on Tenshi island shifted their weights, each having their own personal take on that statement. Miruko looking the least like she believed it, though she raised her rabbit nose to the air and gave it a sniff. "Well, it does smell like rotting dog here."

Mic pushed that mental image out of his mind and decided he'd be better at talking to her than Miruko,proof or not, there was a chance that was the case. Not much of one, but there was one.

"Miss, where are they being held then?" He laid on that sweetness to his voice, nice and thick. She didn't seem to terribly persuaded, pointing nervously over towards the ship and one of the smaller Manor buildings. Though she didn't come much closer, he noted. Miruko couldn't be stopped from giving a sniff in that direction, from the look on her face, she didn't smell something she liked. Mic gave a soft sigh, "It'll be easier for you if you just tell us the truth, okay?" He said softly, and started walking forward, towards her.

She looked like she was about fall to tears, and he noticed something green under her collar, shifting ever so slightly. Finally, in a burst of tears she ran backward from them, back into the Tenshi clan's gates.

"Wow! I've never seen a more obvious Trap in my life." Miruko stated, Mic standing there looking a little perplexed and Ryukyu letting out a dragon-like sigh at that.

Before either of the three could really make a response about the obvious trap, the real attack showed up, sort of. The plant life in the area rustled, and roots shot up to grab at their ankles. Miruko dodging easily out of the way, and Ryukyu grabbing onto Mic and launching up before either of them could be rooted, too.

It was then they noted a pair of giggling twins, and the woman they had talked to, completely unconscious on the ground.

"It's too bad." came one chipper voice of one twin, his right arm covered in thick, glowing scales.

"Isn't it, though?" responded the other, with cooler looking scales, on his left. There were soft giggles before the writhing ground around them sucked itself inwards, and the one twin with glowing red arm, burst their power. Flames burst out and threatened to engulf the area, leaving behind a smell of sulfur. Miruko dodging to the side before a lashing of wind threatened to cut off her "cute" Rabbit ears.

Mic and Ryukyu however, were focused on the twins below. Mic shifted up onto her back in a rider position again, and happily letting out a big shout, loud enough to stun the twins.

They didn't much like that, but a wall of vines and thick plants rose up to protect them from Ryukyu's attack, right after. Sharp, hard barbs shooting out from the wall of plants forced her away, even. Mic recognized the shrieking voice of the 'Knight of Skies'. These two, must also be 'knights' of something or other. He made a face, before a jolt of heat forced him back into the game.

He looked below to see the wall of plants was changing into something else. A few shrieking attacks didn't do much but knock off some bark or leaves, and soon a pair of eyes were looking back out at the two Heros. Seconds after that, a Dragon, covered in the different glowing scales of the twins, made of plant life, had emerged.

"Hold on!" Ryukyu announced, Mic doing immediately as he was told, as she rushed downwards extremely fast, and she tackled the plant dragon. Mic hopping off her back to assist the bigger Hero in fighting a, now, gigantic opponent. Though he quickly found himself, dancing away from reaching vines and plants, frowning at how very poorly matched he was for this fight.

Sound vs Flora-mancy? No way.

"HEY MIRUKO!" He shouted, dancing away from a spear of hard wood that shot up from the dirt beneath his feet.

"WHAT?!" She barked back, launching herself forcefully from the manically laughing Gale, Knight of Skies.

"RABBITS LIKE VEGETABLES RIGHT?! I'll TRADE YOU!" He didn't have to keep shouting, but it was clearly making Gale uncomfortable, and that was good enough for him to keep doing it. Miruko didn't like it either, giving a leap into the air.

"IF IT'll MAKE YOU STOP DOING THAT IN MY DIRECTION, THEN FINE!"

She stomped the ground hard, disrupting the plant attack that was on-coming, and launching after wherever she thought the attacking source was. Leaving Mic to Gale, who looked thoroughly displeased.

"Great, its you again." she grumbled out as her winds were calming, naturally around her.

"Funny! I was gonna say the same thing about YOU!" He shouted back, aiming to close the distance between the two of them, as much soon as possible. Which given Gale's shocked look, and also wincing at the sharpness of his voice, wasn't something she was prepared for. In the air, he could hear a roar and the sound of wood breaking.

Mic couldn't spend too long being distracted by Ryukyu's fight, Gale throwing down her favorite tornadoes on him (again), and him (of course) having to cancel it out, and keep moving. This time however, he just continued to close the distance between Gale and himself.

She threw-up one around herself for protection , only to find he was ready for it, immediately shouting it into weakness enough to get through, and sock her in the face. Her only retaliation was her same swirling wind, cutting her own hand to wield such a small, tight ball of that slicing wind. He was forced back, putting his arm up in defense, and as the attack ripped-up the thickened leather on his right sleeve, she immediately went to throwing up a twisting wall of razor winds between them, again.

A horn blasted out form the distance, briefly attracting his attention, but he quickly refocused himself back onto the fight, not allowing Gale the distance she clearly needed, and wanted, to use her quirk properly. Mic wasn't really a brawler, himself, but he could certainly hold his own. The same couldn't be said for this Villain, once he got through her defense, again.

The horn had to have come from Sunshine's ship, carrying herself, Icarus and whoever else she had gotten to follow her on the ship. He couldn't take that moment to look and see.

Very suddenly, there was a howl, a loud crashing noise, and a chunk of the large wall of the manor's property threatened to crush Gale. A giant branch of a plant had come down, kicked harshly, probably by Miruko. Either way it had her dancing, ironically, closer to him.

Mic wasn't against being an opportunist, hearing a distant hollow howl didn't discourage him either.

So, he grabbed her arm, and gave her a close-range, high-pitched shout, and punched her, hard, in the solar plexus. Gale doubled-over, onto the ground, where she was, quickly restrained.

"I'll take that villainess, Presentation Microphone." the Centaur-Hero practically scooped her up, before Mic could really argue that they got his name wrong. Mostly. He took-off, at a gallop, back to the already 'docked' police speedboat, one of two, now at the old, entirely wooden smaller dock.

He only had a few more seconds observation before the first hell-hound attacker made itself known. A burly beast, easily the height and size of a Great Dane, but bulkier, with heat in its pin-point eyes, as it headed for him.

"Heh, Classic." He rolled to the side, dodging its pounce. However, its pivot was quicker than he would have expected for such a big beast, practically turning on a dime, even with its acceleration, and slashed at him with its big paws. Claws out, a big scooping motion, that ripped apart the leather jacket's front with terrifying ease. Mic was pretty sure it had wanted to scoop him in, closer, to bite him. Or shred his insides, one of the two.

"Sunburst incoming!" the radio against his ear buzzed

A second of warning, with his sunglasses and all, Mic still had to shut his eyes, even in the face of a snarling, furious hell-hound. He wasn't entirely sure where Sunshine was going to be, but if she sent the warning out, it was better to be safe, than sorry. He let a scream attack on the hell hound in front of him to keep them back. His own voice attack nearly drowning out calling out her attack. He felt it however, all of his exposed skin felt warmed, as if he was in the peak heat of summer, under the sun.

It was over as soon as it happened, the Hell-hound in front of him was a spiky-haired, naked woman, blinking in surprise and pain. She was cursing, but that didn't stop him from wrestling her to the ground, just like Gale.

Howls and growls were all over, now, and The Centaur Hero was taking-on a hell-hound himself. An eruption of plants had taken over chunks of the Manor, itself. The plant dragon was partially coiled around Ryukyu, making it look like some sort of plant-like serpent was fighting her.

It looked like Icarus was flying above them, and he quickly heard the sidekick relaying information their, literal, eagle eyes were spotting from above the group. There was a group coming out of the Cruise ship, probably Aizawa? Hopefully, Aizawa, he said he was on it. Sunshine and Miruko were on the still-unseen plant quirk user.

A shriek of wood and actual voices from the dragon, as Ryukyu tore the plant dragon's head right-off, with her own jaws. Even with what appeared to have been a boost from the Sunburst, the dragon wasn't able to stand up to Ryukyu. He ran over to back her up on taking out the twins, as the one fire-twin activated a burst of his own, probably in the advent their dragon form was felled, like it just was. The other twin was looking worse for wear as they abandoned their powered-up dragon form.

Their Flora-mancy helper appeared to be busy, elsewhere, if the continuous loud thumps, vibrating earth and the occasional eruption of flowers wasn't clue enough. Mic hadn't noticed it before, but now given the chance, the ground was littered in intertwining plants, including tiny flowers.

No time to stand and stare though, the baying of the hounds made that clear, and Icarus was just making it more clear that trouble was on its way.

000

Eraserhead stood stiff, as did the rest of the small group.

_~okay you just have to hold still.~ _

The hound spoke to them, shaking its head back and forth ears twitching wildly.

_~except you Bun Pan. You, hobo, free him already, can't you see he's suffering?~_

Eraserhead wanted to resist, tried to resist infact, but his body simply did what he had been told, and he freed 'Bun Pan' from his bindings. The sniffling, naked man quickly resumed his hell-hound shape. Whatever else was said to him, he ran back onto the ship, like a dog on a mission. The Heck-hound resumed his look on the others.

404 growled something herself, perhaps Heck-hound was saying something to them privately? Meanwhile, the rest of them were held by his suggestion, including the kids. There was a soft whimper from one of them, crouching behind the others. They hadn't stopped moving, but they were clearly scared of heck-hound.

Which only made Eraserhead want to kick his ass even more. Further, whatever he was telling 404, it wasn't that she was free to move, and he was getting tired of this.

However a tree whined, as part of it fell in the forest, behind the heck-hound. A tremendous crashing noise following its whine. As the trees waved, shifted, and more fell and cracked like a tank was pushing its way through the forest. Suddenly, a hell-hound of moderate size, was thrown from the forest and brush, coming to a painful skidding stop on the ground, its limbs flailing the in the air.

Then the 'tank' emerged, moving like a mix between gigantic black panther and a hound. Its long limbs catching itself and supporting rest of the body, and turning swiftly in the way only a large, flexible cat can. All black, with fierce, glowing eyes, on an all-black skull-like face. It turned and charged at Heck-hound.

Multiple things happened at once, then.

"Rice!" Kaminari cried out, seeing her finally, after wondering what had happened with her.

Several hounds were baying, most of them in the distance, someone cursed from the cruise-ship's second-floor deck. The one she'd knocked from the forest was groaning a mans' groans.

Heck-hound yelped in sudden terror.

_~I DON'T CARE! YOU CAN MOVE!, DO ANYTHING! JUST PROTECT ME! ~_

Heck-hound practically shrieked mentally, making a few of them wince, as he cast his panicked gaze at the group, before trying to run from the massive all black hell-hound charging at him, in near dead silence. She closed the distance terrifyingly fast, there was a yelp and a cry before anyone could do anything, really. Even with Eraserhead running forward, she slid out of his line sight with the smaller Hell-hound.

"ALARICE ! DON'T KILL HIM!" Eraserhead yelled at the black, massive shape that was partially obscured by the stack of tarp-covered boxes on the dock, that she had knocked herself and heck-hound behind. It stopped moving for a moment.


	39. The Dog Fight this entire fanfic

Chapter 39

"The Dog Fight this entire fanfic was named for"

She didn't shift immediately, Picking her head up and peering over, before catching Heck-hound the man's foot between her teeth gently, and pulling him over. It might have been a little mean to drag him over by his ankles. She couldn't bring herself to care however, She was careful not to step on him, before dropping his foot and leaving him laying there unconscious. Before padding over to the other one she'd knocked out of the woods and dragging him over too. Looking at her teacher the whole time, and Shinso, who both looked pretty intact, which was a relief.

She was sure her sister had killed one of them at least by this point, when she smelled blood. Though she realized, she probably would have been able to smell more as she got closer if she had killed them...

"Rice! Hey your okay!" Kaminari yelled, coming forward, looking a little on the nervous side. Right, she was big and scary, though she noted the kids didn't seem bothered by her specifically.

Alarice shifted down to her were-hound form, Finding herself unwilling to go further. Looking at her teacher, pro hero, as he walked up. For a moment her guts felt cold and another part of her growled that if he wanted her to be a human he could just force it, there was to much going on for her to drop to human completely right now.

Instead he gave a sigh that might have been of relief, and tossed a zip tie cuffs over to her, and nodded towards the first one she'd knocked out. Catching them she finally answered Kaminari now that she could do that. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"That's good." He responded to her, coming a little closer, then finally giving up whatever reservation he had and came a lot closer. Close enough to put his hand into her furry ruff. "I was worried about you."

She was quiet for a moment, really the whole dock area was quiet, The hell-hounds on the ship seemed content to stay there and keep well away from the Giant, even if she was a werehound right now. She busied herself zip-tieing the hound on the ground. Some one grabbed a tarp and threw it at her to throw on the guy.

"Same." She said finally in her weird deep, hollow sounding voice, as she turned towards him and the rest. The children weren't that big a surprise, though her chest hurt looking at them. It hurt a little less that they just looked generally upset, and not specifically at her. Eraserhead was done with the other, getting him tied and his nudity covered up, wrapped in a tarp for warmth. Her ear twitched as she heard him radio that to the heros who had shown up what had transpired. She struggled to say something about her escape while he was distracted, but, all to quickly he was looking at her and she knew she needed to say something.

She just didn't want them to know she couldn't hear out of her right ear, for starters. There was other things, that she just as desperately didn't want them to know about, but the injury came first. Her classmates could suspect but Aizawa might actually keep her from doing anything else if he knew.

"I... had a chance and I took it, I'm sorry." She finally did say, her voice low. "I had found Aiza—Eraser's scent so I was tracking that,... which again, I'm sorry I found your pack and I kind of ate all the food in it." She avoided touching her tender right ear, for her sheepish ear scratch. "Then I smelled your blood, and It went to my head a little, I came here to try to stop my sister, but she's not here. "

That was good enough wasn't it? Eraserhead just hid most of his face in his scarf, crossed his arms for a moment and let out a breath. "The food doesn't matter, it's good your back. Can you-"

Her left ear pricked up although it didn't need to, many of the people could hear the distinct shouting from the distance, and that it disturbed the few remaining birds were still there. It was familiar to some as the Pro Present Mic. She felt her heart rate jump as her thoughts put together where her sister was going to be going next.

Then a Radio buzz in Eraserhead's ear, his hand went to the minuscule piece there and Alarice couldn't stop herself from listening in, just in case."I'll send Sunshine your way, there's a villain with a Floramancy type quirk here." There was a pause, Eraserhead nodded to that.

Icarus's voice came back, but with more alarm in it."There is something really big headed towards the manor! I cant get a good visual but its making a big impact!"

The moment Alarice heard big, she knew, she knew what and who it was. She also knew, that if she wanted to stop her sister, she had to go now. Before Parasus could get some where Alarice couldn't cut her off, and while Eraserhead wasn't looking at her.

"It's Parasus!" she called out, darting off at the same time with her Hell-hound strength launching her forward. She threw herself over a rock and into the forest.

Eraserhead cursed, she could tell that much, and heard him shout to Kaminari, who had been nearest her, and maybe, already running after her, to stay with her. She didn't hear what else he said she was now to far away, she wasn't even sure if Kaminari was going to be able to keep up with her in any way whatsoever.

000

Kaminari had stood there, a little uselessly, but, honestly relieved all the kids were so far safe, Eraserhead had shown up to rescue them, and his friend looked okay too! Though her right ear didn't look great, but … he kind of suspected that since it had been under a bandage last time he saw her.

If he was bothered, that she had escaped, he didn't feel it anymore.

Eraserhead was getting some message over his tiny ear radio, when Alarice suddenly darted off.

"it's Parasus!"

He was already chasing after her, why? He didn't really think about it but, she was darting off alone again, and it made him uneasy.

"Kaminari! Stay with her!"

Was all Eraserhead had to say to validate that he was already chasing after her. The blonde teen yelled back confirmation before breaking through the bushes after Alarice.

He had no way of tracking her, his ability to use his quirk was... not really limited persay, but, it wasn't going to be pin point by any stretch. He followed by keep track of the amount of broken foliage and the deep claw marks she left in the wood and bark. Wether she was intending to make them or not, they were sure where helpful.

'_do I call after her? What if that alerts the villains to us both?_' Inwardly he grumbled and wished for the assurity and intelligence of a few choice class mates. He also wished for a little bit more mobility! Trying to keep pace with the were-hound was rough enough, ( and he wasn't even close ) but going up hill through wooded and rocky and Terrain?

A male voice he didn't recognize snapped him to attention and ducked low as he continued to approach. Alarice wasn't in his site, nor could he hear her.

"I've got her." The male said, he barely recognized the man visually, where had he seen him? He wasn't sure. There was heavy steps and a crunch of foliage and sticks.

"**OH good, Keep her there. **" He recognized the sound of her voice. Parasus. "**You and your emo teacher have ruined **_**everything**_** for me.**" Her voice was full of anger, raw, He realized he hadn't...ever heard the 'real' Parasus before now. "**So, I'm going to go take care of some **_**problems**_** you attracted to me, then you.**"

"**I can hold her here for hours more of you want, Parasus.**" The man said, almost... seductively. "**As long as you make it back to me.**"

"**Of course, I will Cody.**" There was a sound of smooching and Kaminari's brain rushed to figure out what 'holding' Alarice meant. Clearly thats who they were talking to... was this the person who had put them in eggs?

"**Wish me luck, Isolator.**"

"**Good hunting, Manticore.**" He said warmly.

Kaminari nervously poked his head through the leaves as he heard a large amount of rustling. Just in time to see a naked woman run off into the forest. Leaving a calm looking but obviously American man standing there alone. He patted something, but... there was nothing there. Like he was patting a big invisible box... He didn't see any eggs and he didn't see anything that could be 'holding' his friend, or his friend at all.

What was the man looking at? What was... there? He looked at the ground near the man, and noticed it.. looked a little weird, so did the plant life around it. Like it just... stopped.

Kaminari put two and two together, and made a dash for the guy. Latching on to him and giving him a huge shock. Per the usual of course, The man, Isolator, convulsed for a moment before falling unconscious onto the ground. The space of the odd area almost audibly 'pop'd and the leaves around shifted considerably. Revealing the missing branches, and also, his friend!

Alarice caught herself on one paw hand, breathing deeply. Her tail was limp on the ground for a moment.

"'Rice, you okay?" He asked, his tone wavering more than he'd like it to. She nodded her head, one ear flopping more than he thought it should.

"I have to stop Parasus." She growled out picking herself up to two feet again. He could tell she was about to tense for throwing herself into the chase again.

"Rice wait, don't go alone after her!" He couldn't stop the look of real concern on his face, as he got in front of her to stop her from running off again. "You can carry me on your back, and we can stop her together." Was this a good idea? Was it a bad idea? He wasn't sure and he knew he wasn't exactly prepared for riding on her back again. Though he was sure he had a better idea now of how to ride than previously.

She was breathing hard, he could tell that much, from what though he couldn't be sure. She didn't really have visible facial expressions with her skull face. Just the flaring of nostrils as she inhaled and exhaled.

"Fine" she finally said, Grabbing him even though she didn't need to, and putting him on her back as a were-hound, and him grabbing awkwardly onto her. "Just don't hurt yourself."

She took off, still on largely two feet, maneuvering around more freely, and less disruptive than she would as a full giant. Perhaps it was going to allow her to catch up to Parasus.

"Do we have a Plan? We need a Plan for stopping her... from whatever is she going to do." He called to her as he clung to her back, feeling a lot like a blonde monkey, especially as she managed to jump so smoothly between boulders and huge branches. She didn't answer back to him immediately, only the rush of leaves and air for him.

"I know." She said heaving herself up to the top of a rock and leaping over to another easily, their terrain was becoming more rocky and less trees. "I don't know for sure what she's going to do next, but... I'm pretty sure I have a good idea."

"Alright! So, Plan! What are we doing when we get her?" He ducked his head into her ruff to avoid getting clipped by a tree branch. He Tried not to listen to the sound of her nails on rocks.

" Stay on my back, I'll protect you..." She started, stopping, to awkwardly sniff, one of her ears shifting around. " I have to strike fast and hard... Once my teeth are in, give her the shock of her life... through me."

"oOKAY!" Much like before, or, rather the last time he had ridden on her back, she shifted beneath him into a Full hound, and took a leap. Kaminari clung tightly to her, he hadn't seen what path she took, only that she was definitely in the air. His stomach twisted about inside as they fell. Then lurched as they landed and he held his scream in as she moved quickly.

000

Alarice was mindful of his weight on her back, more than he was likely aware. She also doubted that he knew how quickly they were about to be carrying out that plan They had only briefly discussed. She could see the Manor, as it sat nestled into the side of the mountain, and the massive growth of plants that had taken it over.

As scary as it probably was to do what she was doing, she was confident about where she was placing her paws, and carrying her weight. She had to catch up to her sister before she joined the fight with the heros on the manor side of the island.

Her sister gave some sort of horrible howling noise, with no lips 'howling' wasn't exactly was the sound that came out.

She felt Kaminari pull on her hair, as he buried his hands into her mane to hold on. She did not slow down, bounding towards her sister's location as fast as possible. It wasn't that she didn't trust the heros to protect themselves, they were Pros after all, it was more that... She was her half sister.

She saw a brief amount of bronze colored mane, and with a burst of speed, aided by a chance good landing, she pounced with silence onto her sister's back. Her tail hand opening to catch and stop Parasus's scorpion-like tail. Practically wrestling with it as one hound tried to shake the other off. Snarling, growling, all fury and fight between the two as Alarice's Claws sank into Parasus's scales and fur, to the flesh below. Her claws dug into the tail to keep it under control.

She went for the neck next. Snapping around the flurry of fur and mane, only getting hair, ripping a mouthful out, as Parasus twisted and hissed back at her. Trying to pull her off her back, but failing to catch any of Alarice's limbs. Finally the black hound buried her head into the mane and latched on hard, not able to care any more of she drew blood, she just wanted Parasus to stop. Parasus letting out a horrible sounding screeching roar of a noise at the bite.

Kaminari seemed to get the idea then, The handle wasn't really there in this suit, but he managed to figure out what to do in time. Activating his quirk and sending thousands of volts of electricity coursing through Alarice's suit and possibly body, and finally into Parasus. Alarice felt her own body heating at the quirk not to long after he activated it.

Parasus gave a strangled noise of pain, and for a moment it didn't seem like much was happening. Though there was bright flashes of light from the electrical activity now occurring.

Kaminari couldn't do it forever though and Parasus wasn't falling to it quickly enough. Her Scorpion's tail wriggling free of Alarice's grip.

"Aah!" Was the sound Kaminari made, already sounding slurred and loopy, as he was pushed from Alarice's back. Alarice only bit down harder feeling the sharp point of the stinger bury itself to into her body, just above the shoulder blade. Pain exploding out of the contact point.

Instead of letting go she just buried her fangs deeper into her half sister's neck.

Parasus, snarled, howled, barked, everything as she twisted about trying to throw her sister from her back. Kaminari watching from the ground in his stupor unable to fully comprehend the sight of two giant hell-hounds, on on top of the other, perching like a panther on top of a horse, except they were nearly the same Clydesdale-esk size. With Parasus being the terrifyingly bigger one.

The older one's flailing and twisting, finally worked against the younger one's weaking state from her venom. Managing to twist around and bury her own fangs into Alarice's leg. With terrible, bone crushing force, audible from a small distance. Alarice letting out one whimpering whine, as Parasus nearly literally ripped her from her back.

Dust pillowed up from where Alarice's large body hit the ground hard. Parasus did not let up, Tearing at the leg she refused to let go of. Wrenching it, flesh tearing nosily, as she bent it in unnatural, painful ways. Dragging the rest of the smaller hell-hound's body with each violent action.

Alarice knew the toxin was affecting her. She also knew she might loose her leg if she couldn't get her sister to let go of it. Every time she flailed up to snap at her sister, she would get dragged away from getting tooth or claw in again. Some one was shouting but she wasn't even sure who the hell that was, and as she twisted up successfully to latch onto her sister's neck and face with her paws and teeth, she didn't care.

She only succeeded in removing Parasus's own ear, before her body was to weak to keep holding on. Her view of the world was largely the ground, Parasus still dragging her, occasionally shaking her. Then a blur, wind rushing around her head, and then she had come to a rather sudden, stop.

Her vision was blurring but she could see her sister, faltering in her steps, and she could see other pros already on Parasus's weakened state. Sunshine was there, stunning Parasus, who wasn't taking it laying down, fighting back against the glittery pro. A familiar gray cloth stopped Parasus from trying to sting Sunshine too. Soon in fact, Parasus was just a naked dark-haired woman, fighting furiously against two pros by herself.

She didn't look so good either, There was blood all over her, it was already staining the gray capture weapon.

Alarice wanted to stay a hell-hound while she watched. Everything in her screaming that something was wrong, that staying as long as she could as a hell-hound might save her life.

She couldn't keep it up, it was effort she couldn't do, and the form dropped and she almost immediately felt colder, Moving wasn't really easy either. Though being human she became aware her eyes were watering and tears were pouring out of them.

"Rice!" Well that was Kaminari. He was okay, that was good.

"Stone!" OH. that was her teacher's voice. He was probably going to be upset wasn't he?


	40. If all dogs go to heaven

Chapter 40

"If all dogs to heaven, do Hell-hounds go to hell?"

Eraserhead was still running to his students, Sunshine had her knee, hard, between Parasus's shoulder blades, keeping her bound, but also, checking her injuries. Eraser was more concerned for the one covered in blood, his student, who had been violently flung to the side, coming to a stop against a man-made rock wall. Breaking it, as a hell-hound, but now, was just a small-looking teen, clearly bleeding and not moving.

Kaminari was holding his arm, it was a bit too limp, but he was up-right and okay enough.

"Alarice!" he called again, getting close enough to her he could see she was still breathing. The motion of returning to a human shape, meant she had limply rolled onto her back, following the weight of her own body. He pulled a loop of cloth free, and wasted no time tying a tight tourniquet around Alarice's leg. She winced, which was a good enough sign. Now he was next to his student taking in completely how bad this all looked. Her head was injured for sure, it was bleeding and he couldn't do much of anything for it, not knowing what else might be wrong.

"Parasus stung her, too" Kaminari told him, coming over to join his teacher by his classmate's bloody side. She tried to move in response to their presence. She heard him curse, and was a little confused, trying to shift to figure out how bad it was.

"Alarice do not move!" Eraser, now more just himself, Aizawa, barked at her, though she didn't seem inclined to listen. She wasn't getting very far either, movements were slow, and almost directionless. "You need to hold still, Alarice."

Aizawa radioing that they had a severely injured student, who needed to leave, right now.

Alarice looked over towards her sister, or tried to, but this was blocked by her teacher's knee as he had positioned himself to better keep her from moving her head around, too much. All she could smell was blood, her blood, Parasus' blood... At least Parasus wasn't going to be doing anything to anyone again.

"Alarice!" she heard him call to get her attention, with more concern than she was particularly use to hearing. Tears were running free from her face, but she didn't feel like she should cry. She moved her arm but that caused Kaminari to ask her not to move, too, in a pleading voice that was so sad, she just tried to gently put it down on her stomach.

"I need you talk to me, Alarice." Aizawa tried not to yell, trying to get her to maintain consciousness, keep her focused. He had all the large gauze pads he ever carried, pressed indirectly to where he could tell the large bleeding wound was at. He couldn't tell if she'd fractured her skull, though, he wouldn't be surprised if she had.

"You're holding my head." was the only response she could manage out. Her back burned and felt cold, all at the same time, her limbs like they were full of lead and concrete. Her eyes also wouldn't stop running, and breathing took more concentration than she liked to admit.

"Yeah, I am." he responded, "Because your head is bleeding."

Alarice took in a big breath, shakily so, before her eyelids drooped suddenly and then popped back up, at the sound of his insistence she stay awake. She looked around only seeing her limited view again, including her classmate and then her teacher. He looked pretty irritated, and he wasn't wearing his goggles for some reason, and his hold was gentle. "Hey, tell me your Present Mic facts." he asked.

She looked at him, confused. "His birthday is July 1st"

He nodded, though picked his head up once, but returned his attention to her. "Does he have a favorite color?"

"Black, I think."

"Yeah? What else do you know?" He was listening to the chatter on his radio, the fighting was going well, and the island had a place she could be taken to, but getting her there, was the problem.

"He did a KFC ad, once... just for the free chicken." She let out a weak snort recalling the goofiness of the thing. While Aizawa just nodded to her, continuing to ask her for more facts, more things, even though he already knew more than half of those things. Her eyelids drooped once more but he was able to keep her going and get her to open them, again.

000

Her state worried him considerably. He didn't want to lose his student, even a temporary one. Kaminari was clearly worried, too, but the teenage boy wasn't saying anything. His arm was probably broken, but he was dealing extremely well. Finally seeing her human form, he could see why she would want to stay in a form that hid the 'minor' injuries.

As medic's voices could finally be heard, a Hell-hound had also shown up. Aizawa had helped from his spot, protecting his severely injured teen as much as he could, erasing the Hell-hound's quirk. Sunshine didn't seem phased either way, apparently she was down to beat them down, Dog or Human. Blasting them with a close-range, up-front shine from her palms, and then, going to town with her fists.

He was splitting his attention from the medics who had come out, saying and doing all the right things, but realizing they were Tenshi Clan's folks. When he looked back at Sunshine upon hearing a snarl, he was witness to her flipping the oncoming hound onto its back, after dodging away from its snapping fangs. Grabbing its front paw as it went in, to claw and bite, twisting it around onto its back for a second time; complete with a localized sunburst.

Refocusing back, he made ever-so-brief eye-contact with one of the medics, with tear streaks, who was nodding and informing Kaminari, who had already told them that Alarice had gotten stung too, that they had an antidote for that.

"I'm coming with." was his short statement, the other two medics nodded, one openly admitted that his help would be much appreciated. Carried between all of them, Alarice cautiously, asked him if he wanted more Mic fact tidbits. She finally seemed to understand the situation she was in. The neck-brace and being strapped down, so she could be moved, was probably a very big clue. Tears continued to run down her face, they hadn't stopped this whole time.

"Sure, tell me as much as you've got." he responded.

She continued to supply answers, only needing a few proddings, though her speech wasn't great, he wasn't even sure what Manticore's venom could, or was doing to her. They made it to the building, in record time and they got to getting her settled. One of them running to the phone, to call that their new patient needed to be immediately picked up and taken to the hospital.

The other two were set to work, Aizawa watching the tear-streaked one, closely. Though she seemed to be doing the right things, cleaning up head wound first, to get that under control, since her leg was already in a tourniquet. The other prepping the antidote for Alarice.

"You had an antidote ready, against Manticore?" he questioned. Alarice was still listing-out facts, though she didn't seem to be listening for responses. The one with the syringe, hesitated a second, then proceeded anyway, nodding. The tear-streaked one answered him; "She didn't give us a lot of reason to trust her."

There wasn't much else to say, but while he didn't trust the tear-streaked one, completely, or really any of them entirely, he wasn't going to leave, either. Instead, he went back to keeping her occupied by talking to her, while the medics continued to treat Alarice for her injuries as much as possible, before they could get her off the island. Kaminari standing awkwardly nearby, as soon as he caught up with them.

000

Mic let out a grunt as he pulled-off the vine, that had latched onto his leg, and had begun to burrow into his skin. It had gone through the leather, to his horror, and had just barely gotten into his skin, beneath. He danced away from the other vines, that threatened to do the same. Yelling only seemed to slow them down.

Ryukyu's hard scales appeared to be impossible for the vines to pierce, but the explosive amount of vine growth gave far too many points of attack for the flora-mancer. Miruko must be near them, the familiar thuds of her kicks hitting solid mass, were still present, every so often.

And of course a few yells of attack.

"Mic!~ Centaurian!" Came over the radio. Had to be Icarus. "Head over to the cruise-ship! There's a lot of kids over here, and hell-hounds to be taken in, the adults are surrendering themselves, but I need more pairs of hands!"

"oh boy" he said rather quietly, under his breath, jumping over the sharp spines of a vine that threatened him. Ryukyu and Miruko seemed to have this, he hadn't even been able to get close, to even provide them support.

Before he could fully decide, the Centaur Hero had scooped him up with a jolly noise, stomping vines and galloping away. Carrying Mic like some sort of leather-clad princess, which he wasn't enthusiastic about, but they covered ground, quickly enough. They passed by Sunshine, who was with a few cops, securing a few naked people, probably hell-hounds. There was a lot of blood and looked like a huge fight had taken place, but was over now. One of the restrained Hell-hounds appeared to be Parasus, even, bandages just holding her together. Huh...

He didn't have a lot of time to think about it, as they came to a skidding stop, Centaurian's hooves kicking-up a lot of dust and little rocks and a small child 'ooohhed'. Icarus was perched atop one of the stacks of boxes, with what looked like a blow-dart tube in their hands.

"Ah! Good! Our resident hounds on the ship, have vocalized their interest in surrendering." they gestured over to the two teenage boys holding their hands up, and looking nervous. Down on the deck, visible, was a... was what could only be described as a fur-less, hell-hound, gnawing on a baguette. He recognized Shinso immediately and smacked Centaurian's shoulder to put him down.

"Whats with the dog and the bread stick?" He asked, nodding to this student who nodded back.

"Apparently he's bribe-able with bread." Icarus stated casually, Shinso lifting a loaf of bread, likely tossed to him, from the ship. With that thought, Icarus lifted up on their wings, and a good kick, and landed upon the railing to deal with the teens. Centaurian had headed-over to deal with the barely conscious men secured on the ground, wrapping them in their tarps to carry them.

Leaving Mic with the kids, and a very angry woman, whose sense of style caught him a little off guard.

"All right, then! Guess I get to march you little puppies all the way to our boats!" They looked at him with big eyes, and... didn't really respond. Shinso looked a little tired, but he also looked ready to go. Walking over towards the Hero and English teacher.

"He's alright, guys." He said tiredly, and a few of them nodded.

"But, he looks like a cockatiel!" one of them pointed out, including physically pointing. Shinso just looked at his hair, and shrugged, Mic giving a small smile, in response.

"Do you turn into a bird?" another asked, a few of them apparently deciding that since Shinso was okay with Mic, they could come a little closer to investigate him.

"I do not. That would be cool though, wouldn't it?" he responded, trying not to look sad, with the kid who looked a little disappointed that he didn't turn into a bird. "Well, we gotta get moving kids, ya dig?"

A few of them nodded, and sort-of started to follow him, though they looked up to 404 who just gave an exhaustive sigh and followed, too. Someone in the group imitated him with confusion in their voice.

"_You'll_ protect us?" She asked, looking extremely fed up, but some how, anxious. She visibly eyed his directional speaker, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Of course, I will!" he responded, half turning towards her, but still giving her two big positive thumbs-up. He started to walk, waving the kids to follow behind him. "C'mon, guys, just follow this loud bird, and I'll lead the way!"

Someone shrieked 'bird-man!', someone else yelled that he couldn't be a bird-man, if he didn't turn into a bird. Either way, he waved them down the path to follow him. Centaurian came back up the path, his load of villains taken care of, and passed continuing on, to the cruise ship.

"Are these kids going to be taken care of?" the woman asked him, walking up towards the front, occasionally looking back to make sure the two oldest were at the rear, making sure the tiniest ones were between them.

"Of course!" Mic responded with reassuring ease, grateful for the path, but wishing the cruise ship had been closer. Hopefully, though it wasn't going to be too long of a walk for the kids, as one was already completely out, being carried by one of the teens. By the time they had made it back to where he'd last seen Sunshine, he was carrying one, himself. 404 was carrying another, they were small, probably only about 3 years old at the most.

Sunshine and her defeated hell-hounds had already been moved. They'd watched at least one helicopter leave the island, and disappear into the distance. Radio chatter had kept him somewhat informed, that it was one of the wounded students. He pushed the thought out of his mind: they were already being taken care of. So he returned his attention to the gaggle of kids behind him. There was still blood on the ground of course, no gore though. He started to chatter to them to keep them up-beat and following him. They did not need to investigate the blood on the ground.

"You kids ever gotten to ride on a speedboat?" He asked them, smiling at them, even at those who gave him no response. "Well today, you do!"


	41. All wrapped up

Chapter 41

"All wrapped up."

Kaminari was on the helicopter ride out, his broken arm wasn't that severe, but he might as well go with, since he could talk to Alarice during the entire ride. Two birds, one stone and all that. Now, Aizawa could safely glare at the one medic, and the two other nervous looking medics.

"I guess I'm not surprised you recognized me." Mar commented, eyeing him as well, tension rising as though they were about to fight. "Though, it has been a long time since I first fought you."

"Wouldn't have pegged you as the medic of your little gang." he remarked, letting-out some huff of air at Mar. He wasn't against fighting her, right here and now, since Alarice was out of the way. The other two medics must have been legit. Their behavior more like rabbits ready to dart down their holes, and wait for the two bigger animals to finish fighting.

"It's necessary." She responded blandly. "Someone on the team needed to know. I'd be lying if I said it didn't have to do with researching my quirk's affects on myself... and others." Mar reached for a water-bottle casually, and downed the entire thing. Dehydration was a serious risk as a result of her particular quirk.

"Stay out of the fighting if you want your current actions to out-weigh your other issues." He warned Mar, who simply raised her eyebrows at him.

"Is this you being grateful?" She had a small smirk on her face, that he responded to, with heat from another glare.

He was silent, then answered her. "If you'll tell me why you're turning on your group, it's a deal."

Mar just quietly looked at him, and then away. "Do I have to? I can't pretend I'm feeling great about this."

Aizawa rolled his eyes and gave her a look that would be familiar to most of his students.

"Fine." Mar growled out. "I don't like the hell-hounds being here, I don't like how they operate, and, I don't like what I saw it bring-out of Tenshi Hana. That good enough?"

He gave her a raised eyebrow, and finally, quietly nodded. "Thanks for your help. Keep at it." With that, he finally did walk out, radioing to the other cops that there were three medics who were part of the island, but where not affiliated with the main villain force.

Outside, the growth of plants was far less active. The roots at the ground, and many of the vines, were dead. Whatever energy was used to create them sucked back into itself. Ryukyu and Miruko however, were practically demanding assistance with their flora-mancer problem.

In a few seconds, he was, with the aid of his signature tool, up near the top of the tower, able to survey the situation from a better site, goggles settled onto this face again. Not to mention the plants up there had also begun to rot.

Up there, it was a lot easier to see how much damage, the one flora-mancer, and two Heros had managed to do the 'historic' manor house. Oh well. Searching around for the target was more difficult than he would have liked. Down towards the center of the field, between the two Heroes, was what could only be described as a kind of plant golem; wrapped in plants, and chunks of hard wood protecting it, or more than likely: the human inside of it.

Well, one way to test that, and get just a glimpse of the guy inside. The gray weapon lashed out, wrapping around one of the green limbs, Aizawa tightened it, putting great pressure around the armor. Ryukyu caught on, and stomping down a burst of plants on her side, grabbed onto the opposite arm, with Miruko delivering a kick to the main body. Capture weapon, dragon strength, and a rabbit's fierce kick, ripped the armor apart.

There was some blood, but there was solid pink flesh beneath.

Which was all Eraserhead needed.

In a single moment, the plant golem-suit began to fall apart, and in another, Miruko had ripped the man from it. The "Knight of Flowers", Tenshi Hana, was quickly bound, and tossed to Ryukyu, who caught him in-claws, and kept him aloft, to avoid any contact with the ground and plants, when his quirk ability returned to him.

With that, Aizawa headed over to the speedboat he was directed to, which to his slight displeasure, was the boat that all of the kids (including Shinso) were in. With Mic waiting patiently for him.

000

The kids had to be taken to the hospital, too. As it turned out, once he was recovered, anyway, the hell-hound, Arcade, that Aizawa had apprehended on the ship, had the kids' surprisingly well-kept records. Well, as much as a single doctor could do, anyway. The little kids were surprisingly cooperative, and the few who had parents, locally. Only one had parents very close-by, and alive, who were quick to claim their child.

Though, the dad looked more than a little nervous, about the matter.

That left 12. What parents were contactable, were contacted, but more than half were undeniably orphans, now. Some, according to what the hell-hound, '404' said, had been orphans before they had picked them up.

She took being separated from them badly, but a reminder that her freedom required her cooperation, had her calming down.

Multiple Hell-hounds had been captured, many had been injured, but by some miracle, or stroke of luck, onsite causalities had been 2 in total. Only two bodies had been recovered off the island, and neither of them children.

There was some praise, towards the Heros, quiet, downplayed praise. Sunshine and her group hadn't just worked as Heros, she had someone suppressing some of the information that got out, too. What most people knew was that it had been resolved and was over, and that was it.

It was hard for Aizawa to really feel 'proud' of the outcome, but then, pride wasn't something he really bothered himself with, either. What bothered him, was that he was limited to sitting out in the lobby, only being told the basics of his student's condition. More information had come freely from Kaminari, who very likely wasn't supposed to know, himself.

Alarice had arrived alive, and as Kaminari had relayed to him, nervous himself, that it had been said one-too-many times for his comfort, that her getting there alive was a miracle all by itself. Her current state was simply an unavoidable outcome of her injuries. Aizawa had to remind Kaminari to keep that knowledge private, the rest of the class didn't need to know, that she was in a critical state.

No, no, Sunshine had received the medical information, as the only official guardian available.

He went over, in his head, what he'd had to tell her father. Upon contact, he had insisted he would somehow be there, to see her. Somehow. From the states to Japan, somehow the wheelchair-bound old hell-hound was going to make it there. Impressively, the man would be there, by early morning, tomorrow. His escort had already been decided on, with some apparent mutual interest in keeping Sunshine out of the loop. The doors opened for a familiar face to come in, trying to look pleasant.

"Hey, I got the car, you wanna head out now?" Hizashi asked him quietly, standing, out of uniform in the hallway.

"Yeah. Not much else to do, anyway." Aizawa said with a grumble, ignoring their own bandaged wounds. Getting up and walking out, ahead of the blond, who sighed softly.

"She'll get better." Hizashi said quietly to him. Aizawa just shrugged, and continued to lead the way out.

He'd have to keep his students from visiting her, till she was conscious.

000

Mic stood there, in the airport, waiting to act as escort for Mr Stone. The most uncomfortable part was being in-uniform the whole time, though the apparent reason was ability to be recognized at a distance.

So he stood there, cockatiel hair full-blown, occasionally smiling and being good for a few fans. Though, thankfully in an airport, most people were simply on their way somewhere, and therefore barely noticed him, if they didn't immediately recognize him.

Finally, he saw a man who matched Jonathan Stone's description. He waved his hand to try and get Mr. Stone's attention without... well yelling.

It took a second before the man finally recognized him. Pointing at the blond. "**You!**"

"**Me!**" Mic responded, moving through the people around them, towards man. Who seemed perfectly content to wheel himself, despite the alarmed look of at least one bystander.

"**Yo****u're ****my escort UA sent me?**" He confirmed, though there was a sort of sly smile that threatened on his features. Up-close, he looked more like an aged old wolf. Wearing a hat, and his clothes were layered, if loose. His eyes were piercing blue, however, the sharpest feature he had. "**Good, a familiar face.**"

"**Yes I a****m, ****Mr Stone, ****s****ince I'm fluent in ****E****nglis****h, ****they figured it would wor****ko****ut better for you.**" Mic said, considering going for the handles, but Mr Stone seemed to have it under control. So, they just moved as a group, just one of them had a pair of wheels. "**Familiar face?**" He questioned briefly, then realized it was a dumb question.

"**Of course! Who do you think bought my youngest pup all that merch? Hah!**" Jonathan laughed out loud, rolling himself along, without issue. Mic felt pretty dumb for a few seconds, but brushed it off, quickly. The group fell quiet as they walked out to the car, which was a bit of a trial, to get Jonathan into it. Thank goodness there was a Pro-Hero there to help.

"**Mic, ****s****ir, what happened with my girls?**" Jonathan asked, his voice lowered slightly, once they were on the road to the hospital.

"**Er well, how much do you kno****w, ****already?**" Mic responded, not sure how much he should go about telling the old hell-hound.

"**On****e's**** in the hospita****l, ****in critical condition, the other is missin****g, ****no****w. ****Th****ey're**** my daughters, I deserve to know more than this.**" He sounded impatient, he must have been given barely enough information.

"**Well,**** t****hey fought each other.**" Mic said rather simply, "**I'm afraid I didn't see it go down, but Parasus was the... Lead Villain in the inciden****t, ****alongside another. Alarice tried to stop her, so, they fought physically. **" Mic tried to shrug and play it nice. The other fell silent again, for a moment. Just the sound of the road and their breathing, a tension he could barely handle.

"**I suppose there will be more detailed information for m****e, ****when I get to the hospital and see her?**" Jonathan, said, nodding his head slowly.

"**Should be, at the very least they'll tell you more than they told me.**" Mic responded, cheerfully, knowing that by extension of being the translator when needed for this trip at least, would be finding out soon, himself.

They arrived at the hospital, it took a bit, but soon enough Jonathan was with the available doctor to explain to him, what had happened to his youngest pup.

Alarice Stone was unconscious, technically, medically comatose. Even with Recovery Girl showing up, and lending her aid, Alarice's body was already being taxed beyond its limits. She'd managed to stitch the leg back together with her skills, but healing itself, would be all natural, and slow. For now, anyway. As well as the injury at the top of her head being taken care of, normally. Though the doctor mentioned that they would, when she was more stable, and in better health, be able to do some more experimental treatments on her leg, if the father was willing.

Somehow, the mauled leg, head injury, and thankfully, minor injury to her back, was somehow, _the least _of her concerns. Alarice's right ear had been, essentially, mutilated, down to the bones, and infection from that, had started. The inflammation from it had spread through sinuses to the other ear. There was concern about where else it could spread, like her brain. Despite it being caught in-time to fight it back, it would still take time. There was some debate, on how much venom she had received from Manticore, vs how much Antivenom she had received, to treat it. The constant crying was under control, but the other side effects of the venom had not manifested. She was running a fever still, and condition was still critical.

Bandages wrapped neatly around her wrists and ankles, where cuts and bruising was present, from what was very likely, handcuffs. As well as injuries that made the whole room of men, uncomfortable as well.

Mic had to admit he felt out of place, like he didn't belong there. He didn't particularly like the sight of his fan-student, laying there, not moving besides breathing. Her dad being there, just made it both awkward and painful.

"**O****h, ****my sweet little pup...**" Jonathan said quietly, chair pulled-up close, so he could hold her hand. Mic took his leave, before he saw tears form on the other's face.


	42. Deep, Deep beneath my hide

Chapter 42

"Deep, deep beneath my hide"

1-A received the news that Alarice was in the hospital, and 'No, they couldn't visit her', fairly well. Aizawa, equally, wasn't surprised that by the end of the day, he was handed a get well note by Mina, to bring to her hospital room. He ignored the drawing of a dog down in the corner.

Mic had taken it worse than him. By acting as translator, he heard all of the horrible things that were wrong, and what had happened. He mentioned the infection, the mutilated ear, but he stopped after describing the leg situation. For everything else, he was remaining quiet and cryptic about what he had learned had happened to his undeniably favorite student. Really the only clue was the heavy amount of crying he had done before they fell asleep.

Aizawa's next stop was classroom 1-E, and then he headed off to the hospital.

Arriving, there was just the person he meant to see. Jonathan Stone was asleep, looking weirdly comfortable in his wheelchair, he probably had a nurse to thank for that. Alarice... well she still hadn't moved. She was bandaged and healing though, so that was good.

Just as he was about to consider waking wheelchair-man up, Jonathan stirred. Blinking, he looked-up confused, for a moment. Their eyes met for a minute, Jonathan looking puzzled, with a flare of nostrils.

"**huh, you must be her teacher.**" he said rather blandly.

Aizawa's English was passable, on the part that he was dating a man not only fluent in English, but extremely _proud_ of being fluent in English. "**Yes, I'm Shouta Aizawa... how did you know?**"

"**Your smell. It's very strong.**" Jonathan nodded. "**Ah. No****w, ****I get it. So you... came here to visit her?" **

"**Alright.**" Aizawa nodded, pulling out the card from her classmates, and setting it on the table for her. "**With a friend. Yes. This is Hisato Hirai**"

There was some confusion for a moment, before Hisato's form took shape in the room. Looking as ghostly as ever. Jonathan didn't even seem startled by the sight of a teenage boy ghost. "**A ghost?**" was all he asked.

"**No.**" Aizawa responded, trying not to look tired, but that was an incredibly lost cause. "**It's just his quirk. He can help Alaric****e, ****with your permission**."

"**I can see what she's dreaming about, etc. Like when you talk to the****m, ****but far more effective, and she can respond to me.**" Hisato said, rather brightly for a dead kid. His smile was also surprisingly friendly, and he walked a little closer to the bed.

"**You've done this before? You know what your doing?**" Jonathan questioned the ghost directly this time.

Hisato nodded. "**Yes. Aizawa-san takes me to hospital****s, ****on the occasio****n, t****o help with other comatos****e, ****or severely ill patients.**" Hisato put his hand on the railing, looking to Aizawa and back. "**My quirk's abilities are pretty wide, but this basically gives them a space, in which detailed information can be given to them, encouragement, words of love, anything els****e, ****really**."

"**... Alright, go for it, Hisato.**" Jonathan didn't move away from the side of the bed though. And it was an awkward display, Hisato, being a ghost, just avoiding the technology around them, basically just climbed into Alarice's sleeping body. The presence of a fourth person nearly vanished. "**Your ghost friend has very good English.**"

"**He reads a lot.**" was all Aizawa could respond with.

000

Hisato's quirk practically allowed him to sink into some unknown place, known only to him and the person. A spiritual place? Based in their energy, like an aura?

He really didn't know.

It was entirely possible that the place only became a 'place' because he interfered with his own Quirk, allowing for a temporary, non-physical place to exist. There was no place as private as where he was going, now. The ground immediately made itself known, in layers of soft thin grass and moss sprouting up, immediately. Trees and bushes were next, shooting up and expanding as they 'grew' instantaneously.

After the first few in his 'line of sight' were grown, it was as if the forest had always existed, and always been there. Some deep mysterious forest, just waiting for him to take a step into. Was this her creation or his? He didn't question it, he knew he could leave at any time, anyway. Forests were nice, too, on top of it.

The owner made themselves known with a deep howl from some where within in. So, Hisato followed that, on soft padded feet on all fours. It seemed like the natural choice.

The forest went on, as he poked his head through mist and walked around, or over fallen trees, moss-covered rocks. Finally, coming to a clearing where there was a startling sight.

A great grey-looking beast, a wolf, a proper, fantasy-style dire wolf was looking at him with their white eyes. Two others were laying down in the clearing, near their kill, blood on their muzzles. One licked its lips at him, the one on top, growled at him, though. The kill on the ground was a little too-pink, to be just another animal. He decided he didn't want to look too closely at the body. He didn't want to know who that might be on the ground.

"**Hey**" He offered to the three, which got a barking snarl from the big one, in the center, who stood up; hackles raising, snarling and then snapping at him. The one to the right was completely ignoring him, sniffing at the corpse. The one on the left, looked at him, then the other, and let out grumbling bark at the other.

He was back to a human body, it seemed. Which didn't calm the fury of the wolf, and the one who had been waiting was now standing up.

Another, terrible-sounding howl came from the forest beyond them. In no time at all, the trees shook, leaves fell, and increasingly the ground shook. He wasn't really prepared for this, he had never been attacked, or gotten hurt, in one of these places.

Then again, he had never done this with someone with a transformation quirk, like hers. Or even with any one with an animal mutation, yet. Not to mention her other contributing issues that had her in this state.

The rumbling shook, and perched between the trees was a creature of spindly limbs, gripping the wood of the trees, to hold itself up. Patches of shaggy fur, over pale skin. Scales lined their side, spines came out of its back, visible as they leaned down. The skull-face was recognizable as that of a hell-hound's. It lowered itself to the ground, and came closer to him. One of the over-sized, large hands gripped the skull and pulled it away, with a sound that suggested gore, but the face was clean, beneath.

The skull, as it fell, took the fur and scales with it, and became its own giant hell-hound, no eyes in its empty sockets, though somehow, he was definitely sure it was regarding him, before walking away. Nudging the growling wolf with its head, while Alarice stood there, in front of him, looking incredibly confused, and even a little concerned.

"Hisato?" She asked, quietly, "Am I dead?"

"No!... although now that I think about it, I can understand why you would think that, but no! No, you're not dead. You're just in the hospital, getting better." He reassured, trying to be nice and not look at the 3 wolves, and one giant all-black hell-hound that was stalking behind them.

"I am?" Alarice asked, then nodded as if getting it. "Then why are you here?"

"Checking on you, seeing if you were dreaming, and letting you know everyone's rooting for you to get better." Hisato responded with more emotion than he had when they met. "Your Dad's here, too."

"Oh." was all the response he got. "Don't they just check your brain wave activity to see if you're still alive? I'm in like, a coma, aren't I?"

Hisato nodded again. "some of your injuries required it. And, yeah, they do that too, this is what Aizawa-san and I have been working on."

"Walking into people's brains."

"It's more boring than that, actually" Hisato said, with a shrug. Alarice looked at him concerned, then puzzled. "Alarice?"

"So... you just came in here, to tell me to stay strong, while comatose ?" Alarice responded, looking unsure if that was really worth all the effort.

"Well, I can, if that's all you want, I can't stay here for very long, but, since we're here, you're also dreaming, sooooo we can do whatever you want, if it'll make you feel better." Hisato offered with a shrug, willing to do whatever the injured wanted. Alarice was quiet for a moment, he noticed the three wolves were asleep for now, but the Hell-hound was standing nearby, silently watching him.

"Have you ever had deer?" Alarice asked suddenly.

"Er, I don't think so?" Hisato said with a shrug, "I don't.. think we can eat, here.."

"It's a dream, or, like a dream, so we could do anything, right?" Alarice was catching on, sort of. "Let me show you how to hunt, that's usually what I do in these dreams."

Hisato didn't know what to say for a second, before he realized he was already furry again. Alarice was holding the Hell-hound skull in her hands, the big beast itself, gone from sight. "You've had dreams like this before?" he asked.

"Yeah, we call them 'werewolf dreams' cuz they're like stereotypical werewolf dreams... It's not always scary, sometimes... sometimes, I'm just going hunting." She settled the skull face over her own, and in seconds she was gigantic, and different from the strange beast he had encountered, at first. A proper Hell-hound, except her skull became fur covered and looked like a proper hound face. His own size quickly matched hers. "Come on!"

They took off into the woods at a brisk pace. There was something really enjoy able about it, once he let go of the apprehension.

000

Aizawa was lightly asleep, when Hisato emerged from Alarice's body, which looked as weird as that always looked. Somehow the ghost looked winded, of all things. "Hisato."

"Aizawa san, She's fine... in her head, anyway. It seemed like she was very aware, and responsive to my being there." He said tiredly, "how long was I in there for?" The edges of his form were fading out, already.

"A few hours, it's nearly dawn. Come on." Aizawa offered his hand, over to the ghost, who took it, and disappeared from sight, again. Aizawa was still aware of Hisato's presence, of course, the ghost was essentially using his body as a ride, and probably soaking-up some energy. That was okay, it was good to know Alarice was dreaming about something.

Their conversation had awakened Jonathan, of course, and the older man was stirring awake, quickly enough.

"**Did your ghost have any results?**" he asked.

"**She's dreaming, he said she was doing fine, very responsive. **" Aizawa said simply looking at his unconscious student, and the gentle rise and fall of her chest. "**He's tire****d, ****now**."

"**huh. Can you bring him by again, I'd like to talk to him about what they did... er, what he saw. Whic****he****ve****r, ****I guess.**" Jonathan asked, trying to get comfortable again, in his wheel chair. Silence crept in, and a bird outside started making a lot of noise. Aizawa started to walk out, when Jonathan started talking again. "**I heard you made sure she got off the islan****d, ****in time. I know ****it'****s a Hero's job to save lives, but thank you, for saving my reckless pup. I'll read the card to he****r, ****till she can see i****t, ****herself.**" He smiled, and there was some serious exhaustion behind his expression.

Aizawa just nodded, and headed out of the room. Out in the hospital hallway, it was somewhat quiet, and only the sound of nurses making their rounds, interrupted the silence around them. For the most part, it was just the sound of his shoes as he walked, and he was able to softly consider what had happened. He'd talk to Hisato later, about what the other had experienced.

As he was about to leave... "Eraserhead! Sir!" With a sigh the said Hero turned around. This is what he got for showing up after school, and still in uniform.

"I wanted to ask your assistance with some of the children who came in. We've been keeping them for now, most of them didn't have their shots... but they've been very uncooperative." The young doctor looked anxious about the entire matter. Wringing his hands a bit. "They keep insisting on being... dogs."

Aizawa rolled his eyes in his skull before letting out a breath of air. He was a teacher, he couldn't be here, all the time. Though he understood the concern of the doctor, especially knowing that one of them had dangerous salvia and an interest in firing lasers. Perhaps, he could turn it into a sort of practical experience for hero students, needing extra credit...

"I can watch them, while they're puppies in the evenings, after school hours." The doctor nodded energetically at that, a look of some relief on his face. "I will probably bring a student with me to help out, since they're such a handful."

"Of course! They're _quite_ a handful, thank you again, they're just... A big handful. One of our nurses got bit, and another burned, there's just so much going on with them all at once, its hard to tell, and many of them aren't cooperative. Letting them know they can have a playtime at the end of the day, should help them relax and cooperate..." The doctor let out all of his concerns, at once. He looked like he was not looking forward to helping the kids, either.

"Just, call me, if you need me." Aizawa emphasized, before bidding the doctor good night, and headed out. Finally getting home, and collapsing onto the bed with his boyfriend, when he got there. The blond, only waking up enough, to drag Aizawa closer to him, and going back to sleep.


	43. Puppy Play Time

Chapter 43

"Puppy Play time."

After school once again, Aizawa was heading over to the hospital. Mirio and Hizashi were very accepting that they were going to be spending time with Eri, so that Aizawa could help out the hospital staff with 12 different Hell-hound quirk-using children. He went to 1-E to let Hisato into his body, so he could take him to the hospital with him. Though, he did not let Hisato out around the puppies, leaving Hisato to just nap. He was just watching them so they didn't destroy the building after all.

He arrived at the hospital, and was greeted by the same doctor who had talked to him before. He looked relieved, visibly. "This way, Eraserhead. Thank you for helping us with them, I know its an unusual request."

"It's fine." he responded, dully. He'd pay a visit to his student later, to see if she was conscious, though he entirely doubted she would be. He could already hear the sound of children. "How has progress been on finding the families?"

"Some of them are found, but its taking a bit to get it all sorted properly. There's still quite a few who don't seem to have any, and one of them appears to have no record at all." He sad rather solemnly, the one with no record would likely go into foster care, with, what sounded like, a lot of them. With the stigma of hell-hound attached to them, too.

They came to a stop at the daycare door, he slid a key-card on the door opening, to the sight of a nurse desperately trying to get a small five-year-old back into their clothes. "Oh good, we can finally take them to get their blood drawn at the vet."

Aizawa stopped in the doorway and gave the woman and the doctor a hard look.

"Have you ever tried to draw blood on a five-year-old, who can turn into a dog that can breath fire, and doesn't want _you to even touch them_?" She gave him a deadpan, exhausted, judgmental look, as the child squirmed out of her arms, gave a hollar, turned into a hell-hound and bounded off into the room whining loudly. Aizawa had instinctively reached for the capture weapon, when the doctor blocked him.

"No! No, we just need you to watch them, let them have their.. puppy playtime, keep them from destroying their room, is all!" he explained. There was yipping and barking from the other room.

Aizawa looked at the doctor with pure exhaustion, then accepted that the variance of quirk made him still a good candidate, and one the hospital trusted. So he simply walked passed the doctor with a nod, and into the room with the nurse, where the recently escaped hell-hound puppy, charged back at him. Little teeth ready to go for him.

To which he picked her up by her ankles with the skill of a proper Pro.

The other puppies, who were currently, well, puppies, began barking and growling at him from wherever they had parked themselves. It appeared to be 6 in-total kids, who were puppies, including the one he was holding upside-down, by her hind legs. The three who were being good kids, were sitting down with toys. The youngest appeared to still be against his clothes for the most part, sitting there in his underwear, their little pink tail laid out behind them, as they twisted to look at him.

He recognized the dark haired, almost boring looking kid, as "Laser", whose eyes flickered with recognition.

"I'm going to put you down. If you try to bite me, again, I'm going to just hold you upside down, again. Got it?" he stated very clearly to the hell-puppy dangling upside-down, from his hands, who he then put down. They scurried-off in a hurry to hide behind the hut with the others, who weren't barking at him now, but they were all staring at him.

"Are you gonna bring Chargebolt?" Laser asked, finally deciding to talk to him, though the other kid, Anna, immediately started crying upon actually seeing him, and running off to hide behind the hell-puppies at the hut.

"No." He said simply, finding a plastic child's chair, and plopping down into it, while another little hound started yipping with high-pitched, chirping barks. "Perhaps tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Laser was clearly excited, and the puppy least afraid of him. Worse: coming closer to him, a big smile on his face. He got intrusively close, grabbing onto his pants even, shaking them just a little, as if barging into his personal space wasn't enough. "Hey, hey so... Can I be a Hero, too?"

"I don't know, can you stop drooling?" he returned, trying not to glare, for being grabbed.

There was a small glint of understanding in the little kid's eyes, before he got a serious face, for a six-year-old anyway. He wiped the spit from his face, before wandering-off, to play with the other kid, again. After, of course, trying to get him to put on his shift, because 'mr eraser' was there. The puppies were now coming out slowly, prowling-out like little cat-dog-skull things. Many of them looking like they were sizing him up, for a fight.

He let out a breath, and rested his head on his hand, Pro Hero and puppies, looking at each other, while the three 'well-behaved' kids went back to playing together. Anna having skirted around the edges of the room to get back to her friends. Occasionally, still glancing at him to see if he was still there.

Barely a few minutes had passed, when the door opened to the little daycare room. The 11-12 year-old, audibly referred to as 'Skillet', by the kid, currently wiggling furiously to get out of her arms, only to be carried, just a little further-in by Skillet, who was still giving him quite the stink-eye for rescuing them, of all things. The little one in her arms did not seem to care for the oldest's concerns. Eventually being put down on the ground, she had neat little bandage on her arm and the little tag on her wrist that gave the bare minimum of info available.

Which she immediately ripped-off, threw on the ground, then, hid herself. He noted that Skillet had one, still on of course, but that there were actually two others, thrown on the floor elsewhere.

"Anna" Skillet asked sweetly, while Aizawa just continued to quietly observe these kids. "You want a cookie?"

She looked over at Skillet, then over to him, then back to Skillet. She said something along the lines of 'maybe' but she was very quiet.

"I'll carry you, if you want." she offered, coming over to the small one, and picking her up before she could really protest. She seemed okay with it, clinging to Skillet, after a moment. She carried her out of the room, with one more 'glare' at Eraser, as if he was ever going to hurt a bunch of puppies.

He'd asked himself what he'd done to these children, to make them dislike him even more than the average child, except it wasn't that hard to figure out. He had come into their universe and lives as they knew it, looking as he always tended to, attacked someone who was, for all intents and purposes, their Acting Guardian and Parent.

Now, that person was gone from their lives, for the next foreseeable future, and there wasn't much he could about it. To some of them, Aizawa probably seemed like a big jerk.

He supposed some of his co-workers and students wouldn't necessarily disagree with that, either.

He looked over to the gang of hell-hound puppies, some of them had tiny pin-points for 'eyes', one had nothing at all, one of them had rounder, glowing eyes in their dark pits. All of them had their ears up, and focused on him as they got closer, to investigate.

Probably trying to decide if they were going to attack him, or not.

He moved, and they bounded for cover silently. The one he had held upside-down, darted quickly for her discarded shift, and ran with it. Whether she put it on, or not, was a mystery for now, as the door was opened, a nurse came in with a metal tub of water, apparently for Laser.

He let out a long, breath. "Well, if you kids want to be … puppies, you can."

That was what he was sort of there, to oversee, and from the looks of it they might as well start now.

For Laser, that was the only permission he needed, but to Aizawa's somewhat surprise, neatly put some of their toys safely away, grabbed the three-year-old's shift, and took-off his own.

Now, he really was just in a room of hell-hound puppies. Laser's literal bouncy self encouraged some of the others to come-out, but clearly his issue with drooling did not make him a comfortable playmate to his peers. Something he noticed, as he padded over and stuck his whole head in the water, causing it to steam.

Eventually, puppies began to play normally, for now, ignoring Aizawa, and he was fine with that. Skillet came back in, with Anna, who was already a puppy. Fluffy and blonde with spots of scale and feet too big for her little body. He noted that her tail looked segmented. Either way, she wasn't joining the others, who were rough-housing, instead considering one of the actual dog toys taken-out, before looking at him.

_~I like purple puppy more.~ _he couldn't stop himself from making the mental leap to Shinso, as soon as he heard this in his head. ~_he's nicer than you._~

He couldn't make his mind blank, and thoughts just surfaced. ~_I __do__n't __want to play with you, but I don't want to play with an__yo__ne els__e, __eithe__r, __so don't stare at me_.~

Whatever thought he had afterward, he wasn't sure if the dejected-looking puppy even noticed. She padded over to hide behind some furniture. While this occurred, Skillet and a doctor had grabbed another puppy, while the rest were distracted. They continued to to do this for the rest. Drop a puppy off, and lure another one out, with a cookie. Admittedly it was hard to not find it a little cute, when they waddled out after a cookie.

000

Jonathan was settled in, next to his kid, an e-book in hand. The droning sound of the machines around her, were the only background noise. Without moving from his chair, or even looking up, he simply said; "**Come in.**"

Which gave Hizashi considerable pause, as he had been just about to rap his knuckles on the door to let those inside, know he was coming in. "**H-hey, Just.. Came in to see, since I was coming here an****yw****ay later, but.. got off work early**."

Normally, he was a lot more energetic, and making hospital visits wasn't even that unusual, he'd done a few just as his Hero Persona for very sick kids. The entire situation around his 'favorite fan and student' was simply so awkward, he was caught between avoiding her room and paying her a visit.

"**its only been a day.**" Jonathan said quietly, putting his book down. **"but she's good enough th****ey're**** going to check her le****g, ****and do more work if they need to." **

Hizashi just nodded slowly to him. "**That's good**."

Jonathan turned slightly to look at him, and in the fading daylight, his eyes were almost terrifying. Hizashi didn't know what to think about, being fixed with those eyes.

"**What is my daughter to you?"**

"**Student!, Fan, too, I mean." **Hizashi just shrugged nervously, he really was only in this area because he'd' be picking up Aizawa, when we he was done with the puppy-daycare. "**I helped her ou****t, ****earlier in the year, with Parasus being there and all... She seemed to be struggling with that, she seemed lost and needed suppor****t, ****so I was asked and I don't know, I guess I'm like her emotional-support-mentor?**" He couldn't help the shrug in his shoulders or the nervous sweat, that he was being confronted by the father. He was starting to regret some of the things he'd said in private with Kayama. "**Sunshine wasn't there for her, so I stepped in.**"

A silence filled-in before Jonathan smiled calmly, nodded his head. "**Don't worry. I just wanted to kno****w, ****from your mouth the situation. I didn't have any clear things to ask or say to you since I had just arrived, and you doing all that interpreting for me. She told me about UA and that she had som****eo****ne to talk t****o, ****if she needed to. I figured it was probably yo****u, ****from the way she spoke, but she's always been a little secretive about what she likes.**"

"**Y-yeah I think the school kinda picked up on that.**" Hizashi responded with an anxious smile and a shake of his head.

Jonathan nodded, "**yes, so far UA seems to have very attentive permanent staff." **

"**Thanks?**" Hizashi looked back at Jonathan a little bit confused.

"**I had an offer for you, if you'd be willing to hear me out.**" Jonathan's voice sounded grave. "**In order to secure my daughter's future, and write her godmothe****r, ****off and out completely.**"

"**ah, uh you can't just... remove her from being her godmother?**" Hizashi didn't quite understand but Jonathan shook his head no.

" **'fraid not, it was in my wife's will, and that's fairly binding. I can take Alarice bac****k, ****but that is about all I can do to take Sunshine out of the picture.**" Jonathan didn't look too pleased, but it clearly wasn't something he needed to prod. So Hizashi didn't, though he wasn't sure he was prepared for where this was going.

" **What I can do, is transfer my parental rights completely, to som****eo****ne else. I just need to keep her saf****e, ****and out of the system till she's a legal adult.**" Their eyes met when he said that, and Hizashi let out a little noise, pointing to himself.

"**m-me?**" He hissed out as quietly as was likely possible while still being alarmed. "**N-now hold on, surely you something can be figured out right?**"

His cold eyes just stared into his green ones.

Before they could discuss Jonathan's proposal further, Aizawa walked in, looking even more exhausted and tired than usual. Aizawa scarcely acknowledged Hizashi's shocked state, far too used to the other's dramatics.

Though he barely reacted at Hisato's materialization, Jonathan nodded to the ghost, and said ghost went to do his thing. Leaving all three men in the room awkwardly, till Hizashi peaced-out to grab them some food, while they waited for Hisato to be done.


	44. The Phantom Thief and the Battle of the

Chapter 44

" The Phantom Thief and the Battle of the Puppies."

By the end of the previous night, and shared food, Hisato had been left to stay at the hospital with Jonathan since he agreed to make continuous, little checks on Alarice. Aizawa leaving the little Notebook that belonged to the ghost-quirk user there, for him to 'possess'. Not having a physical body did have some nice perks, or downsides, depending on how you looked at it. Being able to sleep in a space the size of a composition book was something Aizawa would definitely consider a 'perk'.

His friend anchored and safe, Aizawa had returned to the apartment he shared with Hizashi, who was, by himself, being weird. He dismissed it as distress over a student's comatose state. With him having to run back later that evening, for another day of puppy playtime for the hospital, he had an idea. An Idea that he was surprised to hear Nezu and Vlad agree so quickly to.

He wasn't too surprised with the student Vlad had suggested he take, either.

The rest of his students were up for the challenge of baby-sitting some hell-hound puppies. The ones who needed, and wanted, the extra credit were practically excited to sign up for what they probably thought was an easy job.

That evening, he was heading to the hospital, with Monoma at his side, and the young blond was quiet, if clearly anxiously curious, about what he was about to be doing. Aizawa would be keeping an observant eye on Monoma, for the whole playtime, for sure. He was hoping they'd have access to a different location for the puppies. He'd asked if they could use the pool area, but he had no idea if they'd get to use the small pool, or not. They were, after all, a hospital and it was primarily used for physical therapy.

"So what did you need my help with, Eraserhead?" Monoma was, as ever, just a bit full of himself.

"mn, You'll find out." He said rather dully as they walked past the doors of the hospital, heading down the marked paths to the daycare. Monoma took that as well as could be expected. Walking next to Aizawa, he looked like a young theatrical student, rather than a hero hopeful, dressed in his Hero uniform for the occasion, since technically, it was extra credit for Hero Studies.

Aizawa lead the way in, with a doctor who just nodded and smiled, accepting Aizawa's explanation on why Monoma was there.

"Well, I have some good news for you, Aizawa-san," the Doctor began, "or bad, depending. The older hell-pup, Skillet, or I guess Violet, since that is her name...well, her father is coming tomorrow to pick her up. So, one less pup, but then we'll definitely need you, as we're still struggling to get contact with many of the overseas parents." Doctor slid his card to let them in. A nurse with bandages on one arm, was patiently watching the hell-hound kids, who at least looked like kids now, but there was a pile of wristbands on the table. The doctor gave an audible sigh at that. "though they... keep doing that, so I'll miss Ski—Violet's help."

Aizawa just patted the stressed doctor's shoulder, and nodded to the nurse, who stood up, with a respectful nod to him in return. He caught Monoma making polite, if overly fancy bows to the two medical professionals.

He had to admit he was going to enjoy Monoma's reaction to these kids. "Monoma." he said flatly, ushering the showy teen over. "You're going in, first."

He opened the door, and Monoma went in, with a confident stride, if confused look on his face at the big bowl of water on the floor. Despite the age variation of the children, there was cleanliness in the room. Aizawa wasn't too surprised, these kids did seem together-enough, as a group, to help each other clean up.

He came in, behind Monoma, almost intentionally bumping into him, since the boy didn't finish walking-in, completely. Plopping himself down into the same child-sized chair, and dropping the pile of yellow that was his sleeping bag, behind him.

"We're baby-sitting?" Monoma said, somehow managing to look disgusted at Aizawa, who just had a slow smile cross his features, that turned into a toothy, Cheshire grin.

"Kids, It's puppy playtime, now." he said calmly. He noted Skillet's nod to him, while turning her back to strip-off her loose clothes. She was the first to be a young juvenile hell-hound, all metallic skin. Laser gave a big whooping noise, throwing-off his shift, before a sharp look from both Skillet and Aizawa reminded him of 'no lasers'.

Aizawa had to pretend he wasn't entertained by Monoma's slightly shocked look before, he realized he was surrounded by small hell-hound puppies. With that started and settled, Aizawa proceeded to take his position as observer of the puppies and Monoma, who gave him one look of concern, before the teacher waved him off, officially letting Monoma try to take the reigns on entertaining children.

Who also happened to be hell-hound puppies.

000

To Monoma, this wasn't quite hell, but maybe being surrounded by hell-hounds, he could still call it that.

The kids weren't inherently bad, but they weren't inclined to listen to him. Given that they had stripped down to transform, stealing their quirks was ill-advised, unless he wanted to be naked as well. Which he did not.

Monoma was snapped back to reality as one with gigantic ears, too big for his, or her, little gangly body, was attached to his coat tails, again.

"Hey, come on, you wouldn't like it if I bit your tail, would you?" he offered, trying to placate them. When the puppy fell off, as he lifted the fabric, they only barked and wagged their tail at him. Great. He tried to walk away, trying to be careful to not step on them, but they followed, en masse.

They yipped, barked, and whined at him, trying to catch him on the ground, again. He'd made the mistake of trying to treat them like actual dogs, only to realize they were dogs with the intelligence of human children... so significantly smarter, and intentionally ganging-up on him.

As a pack, with the real capability to dog-pile him, literally onto the floor, and with no way to stop them, he just got dog-piled. He stood-up from then on, to keep them from jumping up onto him. The toys in the room were pretty much all human toys, nothing for a group of 'puppies' to play with. He could tell from their insistence on biting and hanging off his coat tails that they desperately wanted a rope toy, or two.

As ridiculous as that thought actually was.

Looking over towards the only 'adult', he saw Aizawa was curled-up... safely on the table, but right next to where 'Skillet' and 'Laser' were; a location the rest of the pack was apparently more than happy to avoid. He'd chosen his spot to nap well. Another puppy was laying hidden under one of the little kid structures. Their little eyes, tiny spots of blue, were watching them, but they didn't move.

In fact, more than once, he was pretty sure they had disappeared entirely from view a few times.

Slipping out of the pack with a skillful leap, Monoma made it to the door, and knocked on it, eyes going to Aizawa to see if the teacher was paying attention. He noticed the tiny slit between his eyelids, before the yellow caterpillar sat up.

"What are you doing, Monoma?" He asked, not yet moving from his spot, probably warm and comfortable. Laser and Skillet were now watching as well.

"The puppies..." Monoma gestured to the group that were now sitting and looking expectantly at him. They were certainly enjoying messing with the teenager. "they need more toy options, something more than just my lowly costume to play with"

He knew his coat-tails were likely to be the target of an attack, any minute again.

"mhn... This is true." Said the caterpillar, who managed himself back up to his feet and escaping the cocoon, to emerge just a man once again. "I can obtain that, quickly enough."

All of the puppies were quick to scamper away from him, Monoma noticed.

"You'll stay here with them, I'll be right back." Aizawa said quite sternly, and managed to leave the room with none of the puppies making a run for the door. Clearly so afraid of him, that they wouldn't run past him for the chance of an escape. Monoma put that little nugget of knowledge into safe storage.

They were then left, with no real adult in the room, and all eyes were on him.

Well, that was his time to shine, wasn't it?

"Well,that does feel a little better, now that he's not in the room, doesn't it?" Monoma added some gesticulation to his little preaching. He eyed the drooly puppy, standing in the bowl of water, steam rising from it. "He'll be back of course, but have you pups... considered that with your greater numbers, you could overwhelm him?"

They were thinking about it, or at least listening to him tell them about dog-piling Aizawa, next time he was in the room.

Of course, as he was explaining, he noticed the smallest of the pups, bite and pull the yellow sleeping bag Aizawa was known for. Sniffing it anxiously, before sticking his head in the sleeping bag.

"Why, there's a good idea, if I ever saw one!" He came over to the puppy, who pulled their head out, to look up at him, then continued sniffing the bag. "It doesn't look like much, but this is where he spends a lot of his time."

Encouraged and amused by the fact the little pack was following him, he lifted the hood and the puppy who had pulled it down, stuck their head inside, then climbed all the way in.

"I know! Let's see how many of us can fit inside!" he comically stuck his own head in, though he held his breath. This action was enough to convince the rest to follow suit. They didn't file-in, in an orderly fashion, and he noted the puppy who had been hiding, even came out, to investigate.

Hell-pup after hell-pup, one biting his hand even, managed to get inside the yellow sleeping bag, and then lay down, eventually laying on each other. So that when he looked into the opening, there were 10 hellish puppies looking back at him. A smile spread on his face, because it was fairly entertaining. Then, he noticed Skillet get up, and daintily walk over, before squeezing herself in. Whether she was getting in, to pull puppies out, or play along, went unanswered, as the door opened.

Aizawa stood there, staring at the yellow sleeping bag full of puppies. Skillet's back-end hung out the opening, and Monoma stood there like he was about to present this to him.

"What? They wanted to explore!"

000

Aizawa, for the next trip, did not make the mistake of bringing Monoma with him, instead brought Chargebolt Kaminari, whom the puppies were ecstatic to see and play with. It earned him some slight favor, by bringing the more chipper blond in. Laser certainly was happy about it.

Hisato was doing his part, in the evening, keeping the comatose student... entertained? It was a strange affair, but her father didn't stop him.

Jonathan still sat quietly, trying to read and concentrate, but he kept looking at the arrangement of flowers set up, and waiting for when Alarice woke up and saw them. Really what else was he going to do? Not much else.

The flowers had come in, that morning, from apparently some Pro that she worked with, he really couldn't tell, though their Hero name was written in English. He would have to thank "fatgum" for the flowers and card. It sat next to the other two cards, one from her class and one that appeared, even from the other Hero class. UA seemed like nice people.

As the week slowly crawled by, Jonathan was always there, but Sunshine never showed herself. Icarus must have come by, there was a letter from them, there on the table, when Jonathan came back from lunch. He didn't question it.

If anything, it only strengthened his resolve, when Hizashi came back, near the end of the week. Or caught him when he came in, another card in hand.

"**It's from one of her classmates she's close to.**" He stated calmly, putting it on the table with the others. "**Asked me if I could take it to the room, for her. Her color looks better.**"

"**It does.**" Jonathan said with a shrug, then let out something like a laugh, but it was kind of like a harsh bark. Hizashi looked startled at him. "**I just realized, of the blond adults in her life, you're the nicest, and actual Hero here!**" He gave one more barking noise, before he calmed down. "**Have you thought about what I said?**"

"**I... well, I have but... I mean, why is it so important you hand your daughter over to me? Isn't she going to go back, with you? Sunshine said she was only here to prove she could get a full provisional, and she did, so isn't she going back?**" He said it like facts, and hid his own misgivings about sending a promising young heroine back to where she was clearly achieving nothing. Jonathan just nodded to the man's very reasonable questions, then he held out his hand to all the cards, and the thoughtful get well gift of flowers.

"**Look at this.**" He said with his tone dropping to being thoughtful. "**She has friends here, it would be cruel to take her away from that, for starters. No, I'd rather she didn't come back with me, to the states, as much as I care for her.**"

"**Surely she has friends in the states, right?**" Hizashi asked, though he accurately predicted Jonathan's comeback to that.

"**Have you ever heard her talk about that? Mention some friend from the states? Seen photos?**" Jonathan said rather sadly. "**No, in the states, the shadow of my sins hangs over my family, and I'll be honest, my pup is not the easiest to make friends with, even when she wants to. You could argue that I should not have encouraged my child to enjoy a "foreign hero" as she did, but it made her happy, and she learned a new language from it. I could not tell her no." **

"**Erh... I can't say I don't appreciate that, I mean... I'm happy that I made her happy, but that's... not really enough, you know?**" he tried to offer, even though, somewhere in his mind, he realized he had already gone from teacher to pseudo-parent when Sunshine had failed to be there, for Alarice.

"**I know.**" Jonathan said simply, nodding. "**It just, would be better for her to stay where she has friends, where she's learning, doing something she wants... hm.. It would be easier if she had a home here, rather than in the states. I suppose I would need to talk to your Boss, wouldn't I? Is there any way you can put me in contact with him? I'd like to thank him, either way...**"

He was interrupted by the doctor walking in, Hizashi expertly hiding his stress and internal conflict at the conversation. Jonathan acknowledging that Hizashi was a tough sell for all his light-heartedness. Hizashi slipped easily into Interpreter for Jonathan, all professional and smooth.

The news for Jonathan was good: They'd be waking her up tomorrow. They didn't know precisely when she would wake up, but they'd be putting reversal drugs into effect that morning, and she should be conscious by the end of the day. It could be fairly intense, since there was no way to tell how much she would remember from before, how much pain she may or not be in, how much she would be able to hear, etc.

Jonathan nodded at the news, and they hoped for the best.


	45. Wakey Wakey, eggs and bakey

Chapter 45

"Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bakey"

Quiet, and a dull throb through-out her body stemming from her whole leg. It made her dizzy as she moved, and it increased in intensity. Moving felt difficult, like she was fighting her own sleepiness to wake up. She was in the hospital, and there was sun streaming in.

She tried to remember the island and what had happened, but she couldn't recall much. She and her sister had fought each other, though as she thought about it, it was more like her sister trashed her. That thought in her head, she reached down under the sheets to feel her bandaged and trapped-in-a-cast leg. A muscle twitch, and a new wave of experience washed up her body.

At least it was still there.

Embarrassingly, she couldn't remember too much else after the fight; she knew she was talking about Mic but her memories were foggy at best. Aizawa had been there for a large chunk of them, he'd held her head for awhile in them. She felt sick now, the embarrassment and anxiety stacking onto the dull pulse of pain that was running through her body.

She was so exhausted and she was awake! How long had she been out? She struggled to move, and her arms were somewhat more responsive, she became aware of the IV in her arm, neat and clean. The moderate-sized plastic bag at the top was neither full nor empty. The room was empty, for now, but there were signs people had been there, very recently. An e-book that looked like the one she had ordered for her father, was laying near the foot of her bed. TV was playing silently, and her head was now hurting, the more she moved.

Made sense, she realized, given what her sister had done... Her thoughts shifted back to that, the thoughts of her sister... panic started to set in. She gripped the stupid hospital gown she was in, and looked around, before she settled on the things on the table. Cards, cards for her, and even flowers. Those were much more pleasant to look at, and think about. Much more than the horrible creeping clamminess on her whole body.

Suddenly, to her any way, her father came into view, and seeing him, her heart rate jumped significantly. First from surprise, and then from the horrible realization that there may have been something she subconsciously ignored, up to this point. His lips were moving but she couldn't hear him, then she knew she was screaming, but she couldn't really hear it. He came closer probably saying something of comfort, but it was going nowhere.

She latched onto her dad, yelling that something was wrong, even though she couldn't hear more than a dull nothingness. She buried herself, as much as she could, into his side, the rapid beating, and now pain, in her chest as she cried, was more potent than the pain caused from moving so her dad could hold her.

Parasus had taken everything, it seemed.

000

Saturday wasn't a good day, despite her waking up, and seeming to have most of her faculties, she was nearly completely deaf, and that hit her hard.

He held his child as she wailed and cried, and eventually exhausted herself into being calm. They showed her cards that the nurses had scribbled-on questions, was she in pain, was she feeling hungry, dizzy etc.

The calm was likely from pain killers, she was in pain, but that was to be expected. The doctor had, in his best English, explained that they had done what they could for her. Hearing loss in both ears was one of the things they were concerned about, and had some prep made for when she woke up. Limited till now, to just preparing for what kind of hearing help she might need in her left ear. Though there wasn't that much prep to be done for the emotional support for her.

"**O****h, ****little one."** He petted her head, though she stared off into the flowers as tears trickled down.

Unfortunately, the shock of waking up didn't mean her itinerary for the next steps was halted at all. There were tests they needed her to be conscious and responsive for. It was slow, and the nurses were nice in making sure they were doing everything they could, to keep her informed on what they were doing. The audiologist in particular was very kind, but she had no real answers, or even hope, for Alarice on fully recovering her hearing.

Everyone was so nice and patient with her, and it made her feel frail.

Jonathan himself, intercepted Aizawa's possible arrival, to retrieve Hisato's book, via calling Hizashi. Alarice did not need to see anyone right now. She hadn't asked, and until she did, he wasn't going to let her see anyone from the school, yet. The exception was the helpful and kind Recovery Girl, who was, of course, an actual doctor. Alarice's reaction to the old woman was calm, though a bit nervous.

He even had to ask the authorities to keep their distance, informing them that she wouldn't be able to answer any of their questions, just yet.

The day, was somehow both good and bad. His daughter was alive, but she was deaf, and clearly traumatized. There was a long road of recovery ahead of her, and he just hoped he would be there to see it to the end.

Saturday was finally over, and she was unconscious in her bed.

000

She found herself missing the bizarre, if long dreams, she could only vaguely recall that Hisato had been in. She couldn't remember much of it, but she knew she hadn't had any nightmares, it had been mostly nothing and pockets of something good. Perhaps he had only distracted her mind from the things it had consumed on the island, but it had been a welcome distraction. The second day of waking up in the hospital, from the third nightmare of the night, only reminded her of how real her current situation was.

She didn't bother to try to get up this time, just laying there and watching the IV drip silently... Silently to her any way. Her extremely limited range of hearing wasn't one that accepted the soft plips of liquid.

Her dad was there, but he didn't look good either, he looked paler than she remembered and in her panic of the day before, she hadn't taken into account how he looked. She let out a breath, she'd been unconscious for a whole week, as it had turned out. He'd been there the whole time and Alarice suspected that hadn't been good for him. She fiddled with her sheets while he came to, slowly. She wondered about her sister, she'd smelled blood all night but she of course, wasn't bleeding, and the room was clean. What she wouldn't give to have something nice to listen to.

To bad, not even the little hearing aid that was fitted to her ear was going to allow that. It barely allowed her to understand herself enough to speak clearly. "**Dad**" She felt her self say, and vaguely heard enough to know she was being quite loud. "**Dad, I..I'd like to see one of my teachers.**"

Her old, bald, but still piercing-eyed father responded with a shift, rubbing his eyes, his lips moving in some word formation she didn't know. Guess she'd have to learn to read lips or maybe... sign language? Which one? Was she going back, now that this drama was over? She couldn't say she wasn't opposed to that, the thought of hiding from what had happened was welcome, in its own way.

He grabbed a piece of paper on a flip-book and scribbled down; **'Who do you want to see?**'

"**I.. er.. I guess I'd like to see**" She paused, and the sudden though of seeing Mic when she couldn't hear him was to way painful. "**my homeroom teacher.**"

She immediately was filled with regret, anxiety, and even some fear. Something she realized her dad could see, with the expression on his face. However, he just nodded and wrote back **'That's fine, I'll give the school a call, do you want to see any of your classmates?' **

She shook her head no.

**'Alright. Will you be okay by yourself?'** He asked.

She nodded again as her father rolled out of the room. A few sniffles escaped and she went through what she'd have to say to her homeroom teacher. He'd essentially rescued her, and all she had in her were apologies, questions. Surely she was going to be asked them, too, so there was a sudden concern that she hadn't even been told if the police wanted to talk to her. Surely they would, about what had happened, right?

Maybe that was something she could ask Aizawa. The thought though, made her sink further into her pillows, as she realized how complicated this was going to get.

She'd tried to read, but found herself constantly restless, post-lunch she had spent in a state of drugged relaxation. She almost wanted to tell the nurses not to give her anything, just so the dull throb from her leg could be perpetually there. A pathetic replacement for sound but something she could feel, that could distract from that urgent need to confess something.

She noticed her father rolling in first, making a show of gesturing to her teacher, she assumed. It was him, of course, who else would it be, looking exhausted and even a bit judgmental, though he appeared to be trying to soften his expression. He wasn't particularly good at it, but she forced herself to appreciate it. Swallow down her own anxiety and try to give a smile, and not burst into immediate tears. Though he didn't try to speak it seemed, her dad probably already told him, nodding to her, and settling into a chair after her father took his position at her side. Passing over the flip book to Aizawa, he was already scribbling something down on it.

'You wanted to talk to me?' He wrote.

"Y-yeah," It felt weird to only somewhat hear herself speak and feel herself potentially being really loud. She was glad he hadn't even tried to speak to her, instead going straight to writing. "I'll need to talk to authorities, too, wont I? About what happened?"

He gave a nod and scribbled again, quickly; 'you do, but it can be a written statement. They have been waiting till you were awake and able to talk about what happened.'

Alarice curled her fist into the bed sheets, trying not to show her feelings and knowing it was failing. That the color had likely completely drained from her face. "Okay"

'You don't have to push yourself, right now' Aizawa had written down on the notepad for her. 'you still need to recover.'

She nodded, and felt the words fall out of her, she needed to know the answer; "What happened to Parasus?"

She stared at the bed, heart racing in her chest, and a desperate need to run and move, and do anything but stay rooted, as she was.

'She was apprehended' was all that he wrote, and when she looked to Aizawa's face, she couldn't tell if there was more. He was a horribly difficult read, even trying to be soft. He added more 'Focus on recovering, for now.'

"Is De - Kaminari okay? Shinso? "

'They're both fine, Kaminari was in the helicopter with you.' He wrote down, if he was puzzled why she had to ask, Alarice didn't read it.

"That's good, I don't remember much from that... I mean you were holding my head at one point, and I was talking... but it's not very clear, after that."

'That's okay.' was his short written response. Alarice looked around the room, and felt tears start to form against her will. She had to force them back down, to put the hearing aid back in. She as trying really hard not to cry but it wasn't working. Her dad reached out and patted her arm.

"I think I'd like to report what happened.. as soon as possible.. there are some things... that happened..." And she couldn't stop her crying from happening even as she tried to hide it. Alarice couldn't hear her dad saying she didn't have to, and couldn't see the look of solemn concern from Aizawa. There was a response scribbled down for her.

'You don't have to do it, right now' it read.

Alarice shook her head almost violently, "No! No I need to, its not like I can do anything else right now." It was hard to breath, her chest tightened up on her. She wiped her tears on her arm, still trying to stop herself from letting the emotions out, but it was already too late for that.

Her dad was trying to sooth her, but it simply wasn't working. "How soon can I do this?" She asked.

'Tomorrow, probably, if that's what you want.' wrote her teacher.

Obviously, she couldn't hear what her dad said to Aizawa. She just nodded that it was what she wanted, she needed to let out what she felt inside, as soon as possible. M-maybe.. maybe it would help, ease a pain that was not physical or describable. Aizawa got up, and patted Alarice's shoulder reassuringly, before taking the note book, and writing finally, in English.

'**just focus on recovering, for now**.' Again

"Wait!" she barked out, even as she struggled push herself up more. "**d-dad can you go outside... or something?**" She felt her cheeks heat up, and that wiping her tears was completely ineffective now that her arm was wet. Jonathan didn't move for a second, and since she couldn't hear any arguments, she just pressed her own. "**Dad Please! J-just go outside.**"

The moment felt longer and quieter to her than it probably was, and it only made her more aware of how hard she was breathing in and out. She watched father wheel out while she tried to gain control of her breathing.

Aizawa settled himself down again, gesturing to her to say whatever it was she needed to say to him. Alarice nodded, trying to collect her thoughts and relax, just a bit, and that was difficult all by itself. She found herself appreciating Aizawa's patience.

"I-I wanted to say... that I'm sorry I left Shinso and Denki behind." Alarice couldn't really look at him, though she knew she should. In her peripheral, she could see him scribbling a response, on the note-pad, but she knew she had to say more. "and, I'm sorry I ran off, to fight Parasus on my own, I know it's selfish but... I didn't want her to hurt anyone else, any more, that's all I could really think about then."

She spoke between tears, and finally put her face in her hands. Alarice couldn't get herself to look at him directly when he gently tapped her arm to get her attention. He put the paper where she could easily read it. ' I accept the apology, your leaving the boat, did however, provide enough time for you all to be rescued. Just take the time to rest, your body needs it.'

She sniffled and nodded, Watching her teacher leave, probably quietly, though she wouldn't never know again, by sound anyway. She shifted onto her side, and curled up slightly on her bed.

She wasn't awake, when her dad came back in. Nor immediately see his note that they'd be talking to the Audiologist about the hearing aid, in regards to her transformations.


	46. Not everyone likes Sunny Weather

Chapter 46

"Not everyone likes sunny weather"

Time passed more slowly than she wanted it to, but without the regular sounds of life around her that she was so used to hearing, everything felt slightly more empty than before. Though the auditory hallucinations, which she was informed by paper, were normal for recent hearing loss, were the worst.

The doctors had come in, and given her healing leg a look. They smiled, and seemed content with the way it was healing, though it looked rough and beaten. It kinda reminded her of Midoriya's arm, though, more stitch marks on it. Real care had been taken on ensuring it healed as good as possible, There was discussion between her father and the doctor, and they had opted-in for new treatments, alongside her physical therapy, that should help it heal.

A very kind-faced detective came by, and without even trying to speak to her, he passed over a little paper card that read his name; 'Tsukauchi Naomasa' on it, and a little note, explaining that he was simply there to take her statement.

Further, he explained ( by way of note and probably to her father, verbally) that this was something she would need to write down, but that the question and interview could be done privately, if that made her more comfortable.

Something Alarice Stone readily agreed to.

She was nervous, anxious, and of course tense, during the whole affair. It was difficult to go over certain things, and easier to talk about others. Why she fled the ship, why her sister mutilated her ear, the body of the woman in the woods that Gale had murdered... Tsukauchi was mercifully patient, and had a welcome gentle attitude to the whole thing. Letting her pause when it got to intense and she couldn't stop herself from crying. Offering her tissues, and waiting for her to continue at her own pace.

When they got to the end, she left out how she had felt when she had decided to confront and fight her sister. Choosing to focus on her real, but slightly irrational, fear of her sister hurting her friends. Motivations and intent weren't really important, at this point, really.

His answer about what had happened with her sister was as bland as Aizawa's response, Apprehended. Though he offered that Parasus was being kept away from her, and that she was safe in the hospital, but, a guilty part of Alarice's brain thought it shouldn't matter if she was safe, she was supposed to be a young Hero, not just a victim.

He left with as little fanfare as he had arrived, with a kind smile and polite nod. Leaving her the card, and paper to finish out her statement in writing, which she settled-in to do, having to pause to keep tears from staining the paper.

Alarice wouldn't say it, but writing-out what had happened was somehow harder than saying it. The benefit of not hearing herself speak was being able to pretend that some of it was completely unreal. Putting it in text made it all the tangible in ways she didn't like.

The check and removal of her cast, (something only possible thanks to Recovery Girl, who's ability could now be used safely), and lunch with her dad, were welcome distractions from the morning's disturbing interview, as nice as Tsukauchi was. All too soon, she found herself alone again, but now her leg was just sore.

Her thoughts and memories were unwelcome. Surfing the internet on her phone had somehow become dull, but the cards from her friends were more welcome. Reading through Jiro's card for the fifth time, and eyeballing the one from 1-A for a second time, finally eyeing the unopened envelope from Icarus.

'

000

Jonathan could not stay every night, twenty-four hours a day, in Alarice's room. His own treatments had him exhausted, so he was taken back to his own hotel room, close-by, where he could rest.

Sunshine slipped into the hospital, though, even in her casual wear, towering over many people, and catching eyes. She ignored them, they were not important, right now. Nor were they likely to stop her; it was amazing what a confident stride could do for you. The gold skin might have helped.

She briefly considered Aizawa's thinly veiled threat, and shook her head, she was her God-mother, she had every right to be here. She'd tell Jonathan the same thing, too. She'd fought off visiting, Not wanting to be reminded of Miranda's last days in the hospital herself. She acknowledged necessary signage for any visiting person who wasn't aware of Alarice's state: Recovering but had recent hearing loss.

When Sunshine opened the door, she was awake, sheets of paper on her bed, and a neater set in a folder, on her side table. Alarice was staring out the window, likely she hadn't expected anyone, for a bit.

She let-off a tiny blink of light, just to get the teen's attention.

Alarice whipped her head around, staring at her wide-eyed, skin paling. There were partially dried tear stains on her cheeks, a reaction Sunshine was hardly prepared for. Naturally, Sunshine moved closer to try and reassure that she hadn't meant to startle her god-daughter. Distant though they were, she didn't really want to put Alarice under _unnecessary_ stress. She was certainly more than stressed enough, with the loss of her hearing.

She was not prepared for the harsh glare Alarice's features morphed into. Sunshine stopped where she stood, while her eyes, if they were normal colors, would have reddened and tears took form. For a brief moment, Sunshine felt shame, and even fear.

"**What are you doing here?**" Alarice growled out, but seeing as Sunshine wasn't close enough to write anything down, she was at a loss for gestures or words. So she awkwardly pointed at Alarice.

"**You let all this happen to me.**" Tears were rolling down her face, a low growl in her throat. Sunshine gaze went from the angry teen to the pieces of paper on the bed.

"**Icarus...**" she mumbled to herself, realizing that Alarice knew what had happened, in-full.

Alarice glared harder if that was possible, turning completely to face her. Pulling the sheets off enough, that her healing leg was visible. Though it still looked swollen, stitches were still healing on it, and it was different colors from the trauma it had suffered. "**This is all your fault. All of it's your fault.**" Alarice growled at her.

The hurt in her eyes was visible, but Sunshine had no words for her. She went for the note pad quickly, in case Alarice did anything else. Being treated like she was dangerous, clearly didn't sit well with Alarice, either. Still, she waited while Sunshine wrote down her response, trying to keep her breathing in check.

'**you wouldn't understand**' She wrote back.

"**What part would I not understand?! The part were you knew Parasus might show up at UA and you didn't tell an****yo****ne!?**" Alarice yelled back at her, sniffling back while sunshine tried to respond, but Alarice continued shouting anyway. "**T-****t****hat you didn't tell an****yo****ne she was violent!? Had a tracker in my phone since you took me here,..**"

She stopped, taking deep breaths trying to calm down, but tears ran down her face, her breathing ragged. Sunshine tried to respond in time, Alarice hugging the clothes she had to herself. "**you used my .. you picked UA because … you used me, you used my friends...**" she broke down into deep sobs, that wracked her whole body. She looked up to see the only response, scribbled in a rush on the note pad

**' I had to catch Parasus, its my job to stop villians.**'

The notebook left her hand, slapping onto the floor, leaving her hand stinging slightly from the sudden hit.

"**WHAT ABOUT ME!? YOU WERE ALSO SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ME!**" Alarice barked out, her human teeth had formed into fangs. Her fingernails were long, and a little too close to claws, and her voice had a deep growl to it. "**I-I'm supposed to be your god-daughter, yo****u're**** supposed to be like my mother.**" Her breathing was ragged. "**D.. Parasus hurt my friends! S-she... do you have **_**any idea**_** what she did to me?!**"

Sunshine became acutely aware that Alarice was standing, something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Her tail had come out and was helping support her body, relieving the pressure on her healing leg, though it shook regardless. "**She.****..****s****he's always abused me and you didn't do anything! You've never done anything****.**** She could have killed my friends, tortured me and kill me, and you wouldn't have done anything!**"

"**A-Alarice...**" She muttered out, on reflex. "**You shouldn't be standing...**" Sunshine went to gently grab Alarice's arm and get her off her legs.

This, was a mistake.

"**DONT. TOUCH. ME.**" She snarled out, grabbing on to Sunshine's wrist tightly in her larger, clawed hand. Sunshine was immediately reminded that Alarice wasn't short. She was almost matching her god-mother's height when human, as a were-hound she was significantly taller. The grip wasn't light either, that even in her distressed state, there was considerable strength. Lost in this sudden physical realization that her god-daughter wasn't as easy to overpower, Sunshine didn't resist being yanked.

"**GET OUT!**"

Alarice howled, practically dragging Sunshine to the door. Despite her wobbling gaite from the bad leg, catching herself with tail, and free hand, partially on the door, which shook as part of it broke with the added weight and force. Not made to withstand the force of a Hell-hound, giant breed in werewolf shape, nearly slamming into it. Sunshine tried to catch herself and do that, but Alarice had not let her go. She ripped back the door, startling the nurse who had dutifully come because of the shouting.

"**I SAID GET OUT! I HATE YOU!**" Alarice screeched and barked, the skull face had taken over and her features were un-readable, now, though tears somehow still manifested and rolled down the Were-hound's face. She shoved Sunshine out the door as hard as she could, which forced the golden woman into the outside wall.

Alarice's responses became growls and snarls, as she slammed the door back shut again, breaking the poor thing even further. The nurse had been smart enough to keep well-enough away, when the were-hound had made itself known. Sunshine controlled her breathing, having caught herself against the wall.

The nurse gave her a look, before grabbing her 2-way radio, and calling-out some coded message. She could hear Alarice's growling still, even through the door.

000

Aizawa was startled, somehow, by the nurse coming into the room in such a state. Perhaps it was because he was playing with the telepathic puppy known as Anna. Once she had gotten over her fear of him, she seemed to prefer him, to the rest of the puppies.

"Eraserhead sir, they need your help with a patient, in room 303."

He didn't really ask, he simply nodded. That room was Alarice's room. He slipped out of the way, so the nurse could take-over for him, even if she did seem nervous about that, itself. She would be fine. Mina had shown up this time, for the extra credit, and was doing splendidly. He also couldn't really run, but... everything always took longer when he needed to be some where immediately.

As he made his way down the hall, he saw a familiar shiny face, looking a little more dazed than normal.

"Sunshine, what the hell are you doing here?" Aizawa knew he shouldn't stop, but he couldn't help it. What on earth did this woman think she was doing, this time?!

"I came to visit my god-daughter." She said, like there wasn't some drama playing out now as a result. She was rubbing at her arm, when a smile stretched on her face that made his blood burn. "I did my job... She's strong enough-"

She didn't finish that sentence. Aizawa socked her in the face before she could. He didn't stay to see what damage he had done, leaving her behind him. Sunshine wasn't important anymore, the awful sounds coming from down the hallway, where Alarice's room was, were far more weighty.

They sounded pained and hollow, and sometimes he could make-out what was being said, a chanted begging cry, and sometimes, it was more akin to a dog's whimpering. Either way, it had quite a few people staring into the doorway, looking alarmed.

The door hung loosely open, completely broken. Even the door frame would need repairs. No one seemed eager to cross the threshold into the room. Given the cacophony of upsetting noises, he couldn't exactly blame them, pained as the sounds were. There were a doctor and two nurses standing there, who looked like they were steeling themselves to deal with the patient. The other two, were just curious onlookers, who were quickly shooed away.

"We were alerted when she must have disconnected one of the machines. "One nurse told him, "I came to check, when Miss Sunshine was shoved out of the room, incredibly hard. Stone slammed the door shut, but when I opened it, to try and help her, she yelled at me, too. That's when she started whimpering."

"I'm pretty sure she's having a panic attack." one of the three said, but Aizawa didn't see who. Clawing into the floor, tearing up tiles, and curled-up on herself, covered alternately in fur and scale, was Alarice. Her ears didn't move, her tail was curled around her, the only part that didn't seem to change constantly. Her hands, nails, and even her feet would shift a bit, and then go back towards human again. Repeat. "We.. don't have anyone that can help her calm down, since she can't hear us, and... it's to dangerous for us to get close."

He didn't need to be told that, he could see it. She had hurt herself, marred the floor, and broken the door. She'd pulled herself to a corner, and now he could make-out some of what she was saying.

"I'll help her, just stay behind me." he stated calmly. He'd give her one chance to try and get control of this, herself. Then he would. He stepped past the threshold of the door, into the room, preparing for the snotting, crying hell-hound. She saw him, and curled-up on herself even more, the tail coming around to protect herself. She pawed at her own skull-head as if to pull it off. The were-hound let out a whine, that formed into human words.

"_I can't make it go back._"

"I know." his eyes flashed red, and his hair defied gravity, and Alarice was a curled-up, scared human girl. He got down to her eye level completely, his hair dropping around his face. There was some relief in her eyes but whatever woods she had gotten lost in, she wasn't out of, it yet. She leaned forward, uncurling, trying to get off her injured leg, which didn't look pleasant in the least. The bandages that had been there, were torn apart, not able to withstand the change, blood had come dripping out of some spots.

It was difficult to keep her attention on him, when she kept hiding her eyes in her hands, and just as frustrating. Eventually giving up on eye-contact, he swallowed his discomfort of human contact. A gentle touch to her head, near the fresh scar of her injury, seemed to be all he had to do, to get her to understand. Her movement was like a dog, exhausted and sick, collapsing where it felt safe. She clung to him only a bit, as if completely unsure, but knowing she needed the security he was offering. He offered her what comfort he could, a gentle hold. It seemed to help calm her down enough, after a moment, that the nurse was able to inject something to kill her pain and sedate her, into her IV. Whatever it was, it was quite fast, because she went limp particularly quickly.

He picked-up his student, much to the relief of one of the nurses, who looked smaller than Alarice. While his arms were full, the nurses looked to each other. Some of her leg's stitches had come undone, and it would need to be re-examined. All the while Aizawa was left holding her, till one the doctor finally came over, a slight frown on his face. "Do you mind helping us actually move her to a new room? We'll fix-up her leg there, and inspect it."

Aizawa pretended he couldn't see the traces of fear the scene had left in their eyes.


	47. A Indoor Water Feature

Chapter 47

"A Indoor Water Feature"

Hizashi, well Mic now, was trying not to be bothered by how protective the nurse was being about her patient. When had he actually misbehaved with his quirk in the hospital?

Three years ago actually, but he hadn't don't it since and that time had been an accident!

Mic let out a breath, best to reassure her. "I'm aware of her situation. I wont be loud."

The nurse looked at him like he had no idea what he was talking about. Still, she finally just let him through the doors. Though he could feel her eyes still, as he walked down the hallway. He should have gotten out of uniform before heading this way. Aizawa had given him the most rationed amount of information about what had happened with Alarice, but not much more. So to some extent, he stayed in the get-up, almost entirely just for her, since she'd had a rough day.

Though Mic had to admit to himself that he was impressed she threw Sunshine out on her own.

Now if only he got a chance to pay her back, too, for all the trouble and stress she'd caused them. Using him to manipulate such a sweet **pupper** was something he really couldn't stand.

Mic came to a stop in front of Alarice's room door. He took in a big breath, and prepared for the possible worst-case, which was that she might get upset or weird about seeing him. He also told himself to, either away, approach it like he did whenever his mom was sick, by being patient, gentle and very visible. He opened the door and walked into the room, his boots made some noise, but he was pretty sure he was the only one who was hearing them.

To his ego's relief she didn't look that upset at all, though she also looked tired, perhaps drugged. It was probably both, given the earlier events. She saw him, a little dull half smile appeared and faded away. He waved at her, and she waved back and he came over to a chair, pushing it up near the bed and plopping down into it.

"Hey." was her only response. She wasn't even really fiddling with the covers, just kinda reclined there, not doing much. Though she watched him with tired confusion, as he held up a finger for her to wait, and pulled out a tablet screen from his jacket pocket. He tapped out a message quickly:

'thought I'd bring this along with me today! :) '

Alarice stared at it for a minute, before cracking a smile, herself. He was smiling along side his own smiling emoticon. He pulled it back to himself, clearing that message.

'How are you feelin' ?'

Alarice just gave a shrug of her shoulders. Mic couldn't get upset about that response, flipping the screen around to himself, and tapping it aggressively with his fingers.

'guess what!'

"What." she tiredly responded, while she felt she could hear the tap-tap-tap of fingers on the screen, but knew it was memory. Those kinds of sounds were too soft for her to hear, even with help. There wasn't a whole lot, even with the hearing aid, she could pick up, now. A lot of hallucinatory sounds were playing out in her head, as he moved, probably just from memory. He stopped, and turned the screen over to her.

'I know Sign language, if you want to learn.'

There it was, slightly stoned puppy eyes at him, big, reverse coloration puppy eyes. OF course she would want that. She wiggled, most noticeably with only one leg, up to a better sitting position. He noticed that there were three bracelets now, one for fall risk, one for identification, and another that was basically a warning that she had lost control of her quirk, was possibly dangerous, and that it could happen again. A thought entered his head, that he knew Aizawa had as well, and that thought jumped to the conversations between, Nezu and Jonathan.

Her voice, lacking confidence now, for completely reasonable reasons, snapped him back out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

"I'd like that. Also, the leg's okay, I mean I um... well I strained it, but nothing tore or anything. Again. Popped a few stitches though, I guess. " she started nervously fiddling, again but she checked him for more than just the nod he gave her. "It hurt earlier but.. doesn't any more. The uh.. hearing aid survived its fall too... " She opened her mouth, closed it, and stared hard into the sheets like she was trying see through them. Little tears started to form, and then landed softly on the sheets. "I'm really glad, that you're okay."

She wiped at her face, and Mic began to fiddle with his speaker, getting it off his neck. He was off patrol anyway, he got up to put it on a chair, by the wall.

"Don't go!"

Mic nearly jumped, hearing her call like that. She was much louder than necessary, but that was understandable, she was still learning how to talk and communicate with the loss of a major sense. He turned around, showing he'd just taken his hardware off. Settling it into a spare chair, before coming back over to her.

He mimed breathing at her, to get to her understand she just needed to breathe, for a moment. Drugs or not, she looked so alarmed. She followed along, for a moment, before she just shook her head and kept crying. He hesitated patting her shoulder, sitting there awkwardly, while she cried. He handed over some tissues.

Alarice, between racing thoughts and gasps for breath, really wished she wasn't crying so much, it made it hard to smell, and see. With her stuffy nose, and her eyes full of tears, it was difficult to keep some of the rising panic at bay. Something she couldn't let out. She took the tissues and wiped her face as best she could, before a few words fell out of her mouth.

"Wwhy would... Why didn't Sunshine protect me?" she asked, trying very hard to control her breathing, but feeling it slip out of control anyway. Even being drugged didn't make her feel any better. She was searching him for answers, but not getting any of them, just the rapid movements of his fingers on the tablet screen.

'I wish I knew.' the little screen said.

She grabbed for his arm gently, she sucked in air, and continued to softly cry, but this time just against his hand. He didn't really know what to do besides, relaxing himself as much as possible, and getting the little screen again. Tapping on it, asking her if she would like anything.

"I don't know, a mom who cares again, maybe." she said quietly before a fresh wave came. She took a few more tissues, while she quietly cried.

'You can have me, for now?' He put the tablet where she could see it, before Mic settled himself on the side of her bed, so that this would be a little less awkward, and he wouldn't accidentally scare her. She didn't seem to notice, till he was done, when he made a show of being available for hugs now. As well as having written down on the tablet 'Just tell me if you need anything else.'

"okay." Though Alarice looked around, then almost cautiously, got close enough, before settling herself, into his chest and shoulder. Taking-in a strong inhale against the body-warmed leather, before visibly seeming to 'relax'. It wasn't really relaxing, a new wave of tears and sobs came afterwards. She was curled up in his lap, crying against him, while he held her. His grip on her was soft, a very soft embrace, like she might break. He only held her tighter when she nestled in, still sniffling, but the big sobs had passed for now. Just quiet, the quiet giving him time to question what he was doing, and chastise himself. For a brief moment, he wondered if she didn't know this could end, so he let go with one arm, only to find that while she had pulled her arms against herself, she hadn't let go of his jacket. She had a pretty good grip on it, too. So instead, he just grabbed the tablet.

'How are you feelin' now?'

"Sad."

'do you want to talk about anything? I'm still the listening hero too!'

That got something other than tears, a half-hearted laugh, and a response "That's a bad joke."

He knew she couldn't hear it, or see when he stuck his tongue out at her and made a disapproving noise. He typed out the appropriate emoticon on the screen. Another long moment passed, more tears, breathing became erratic again and then calmed back down. She shifted a little, but nope... she was still clinging to him like an over-sized teddy bear. Unfortunately, her weight was cutting off some circulation to his leg, though he wasn't about to say anything about it. He'd accept his funny walk later, like a big man.

"I saw someone die on the island." she said quietly. "There wasn't anything I could have done to save her, an.. she was a hell-hound too, but … she died, all of her guts came out and she bled death." She moved, reasonably uncomfortable with what she was saying. "I couldn't do anything.. I .. she just wanted me to stay there, so I did."

Alarice started to cry all over again, with that admittance. Hiding her face into the black leather.

It was difficult to type with her being there, but since she was unwilling to move, and he wasn't keen on trying to force her just yet, he dealt with it. Thinking of his own solemn thoughts, dark memories from the past.

'Sounds like you did do something, you stayed with her.' She sniffled as she read, and he added more 'sometimes, that's all you can do.'

"has that happened.. to you?"

'Once.'

"Oh."

'Sometimes comfort and company is all you can do for someone.'

He felt her nod against him, then whimper, and start to cry again. "I.. It.. I just feel so bad about it."

'That'll pass, it's normal, just remind yourself you did what you could, because you did.'

He gave her shoulder a soft pat, and she numbly nodded to him. Things went quiet again, and then she shifted herself, a little, and let go of him a bit.

"Is that what you do when you think about it?"

He nodded, and she accepted that answer, wiped at her face with a tissue. She inhaled, sniffled, she hunched up again, tensing. He wondered was she going to talk about what happened? He couldn't really tell her that 'he already knew' because that was a lie. He knew about the aftermath, not the situation. Instead a quiet voice came out of her. "_A l__ot_ of bad things happened on that island."

'Indeed they did, **pupper**.'

"I'm glad Parasus didn't get you, tho."

'get me?'

He almost regretted asking that, but she'd seen the text, so it was to late to erase it.

"She threatened it a lot. 'n she was probably going after you on the island when I at-, I mean Sunshine and Aizawa stopped her."

'Is that why you jumped on her?'

She didn't verbally respond, just nodded stiffly. It didn't surprise him that she didn't know he knew. He probably shouldn't have let her know that he knew about her attacking Parasus. A few more tears slipped free of course. She'd been a waterworks display for a bit now, it was surprising there were still more tears available. "are you mad at me for that?"

'no, I can't say that I am.'

Probably not what he should tell a young hero hopeful, she did make a bad call. On the other hand, he doubted she had more sisters to pull that stunt on. He patted her shoulder while the new indoor water-feature let out more water.

He sat there with her, till his leg went numb, and realized she was basically not really awake anymore. Leg tingling, as he moved her weight off of it, he carefully made sure she was placed back on the bed. Even half-awake though, she still clearly wanted him to stay. By the nature of the job, he was her Hero, whether she could hear him or not, she found comfort in his presence. However, he did have to to go, and he couldn't let her sleep on him even if she wanted to.

Mic, instead, had a million thoughts now racing about in his head. It helped distract from the tingling in his leg, as feeling returned completely. Remaining silent and deep in-thought all the way down to the lobby. Had he done, or said the right things? He hated this feeling, and it never seemed to stay far away from him. Was it the DJ side? The Hero side more likely, that attracted the lost souls looking for comfort. Lost in his thoughts, he nearly jumped out of his speaker when Aizawa touched his arm.

"Tired?" he asked.

Mic just nodded. "Yeah, got a lot on my mind, right now.."

The pair walked out, avoiding any serious conversations in the car ride. Mic was pretty sure Aizawa knew he was troubled, Aizawa had a knack for reading him pretty well. He didn't start talking to the other, till they were in the privacy of their apartment. Some sparse commentary at best, that she practically passed out on him, which Aizawa didn't seem to judge him about it. He'd kind of been expecting it. Though perhaps it was because Aizawa was more concerned with how to tell her she couldn't be a hero.

If he needed his help, Aizawa would say so, and so far, he hadn't said anything. Mic just hoped he didn't have to be there, when he did tell her.


	48. This Isn't how you Pop a Wheelie

Chapter 48

"This isn't how you pop a wheelie in a wheelchair"

Alarice finally had some kind of sleep. She felt better, too, after a good night of sleep, enough to finish her written statement. Even though she knew if she ever wanted anything from this situation, it had been hard to write about. So hard she had avoided it, but with good sleep she found it... a little easier. Her next few days were like a blur of worries and emotions, with bright spots of comfort from the people who did visit her.

She pushed the thoughts of what happened on the island, on the ship itself, as far away as she could. Though they would return, in the night, again. On top of that, was the anxiety that she would lose control if she got upset again. Clearly, something the hospital was also, anxious about: hence, a bright band over her wrist, alongside the other ones. There was so little to do, eventually she asked if she could get some of her coursework, just so she could do that between physical therapy and just... sitting. Anything to not be alone with her thoughts. Anything at all.

She was only a week into her stay, two weeks of being here in total, but she found it difficult to actually consider that first week, as part of it, since she wasn't conscious. Mic had been true to his word, had started teaching her sign language, when he could do so. Either him, her dad, or even Aizawa surprisingly had shown up with coursework for her to do, so she could stay kept-up with her classmates in the regular core classes. She avoided talking about the incident so far, afraid of what the answer might be.

Physical therapy had been its own treat, complete with pain, frustration and a healthy dose of embarrassment. The specialist had been incredibly patient, or maybe it was the bracelet that had her keeping her distance. Either way the space was welcome, her wobbling gait, even with support, hard to deal with emotionally.

It probably didn't help that while she'd had moments of panic, she hadn't had the same episode as before, but... she didn't exactly have perfect control. Sometimes her ears became hound ears, which would inevitably knock her hearing aid to the floor. Sometimes her teeth sharpened or claws came out. Twice now when she'd stumbled and instead of letting the specialist completely catch her, the tail came out, trying to catch herself. Having people see, even if it was a very nice nurse or specialist, see her tail as a human, was its own added hell. She did her very best to bury these moments with the rest of the thoughts.

Including the not-so-fun auditory hallucinations with her recent loss of hearing. Perhaps that was lack of quality sleep. She was pretty sure they were giving her something to help her sleep...

Today had been alright, improvement, and she'd hid her claws before the nurse had seen them.

The nurse was rolling her into her room, after once again being told ( in text form ) that 'plus ultra' did not necessarily apply to her stay at the hospital. That pacing and avoiding breaking or hurting herself while things were tender was more important. Resting was just as important as getting her strength back. Alarice rolled her eyes and accepted the answer, even though really, she just wanted to get back to walking, so she could leave.

She noticed it was Hizashi and her dad in the room, having some conversation when she rolled in. She couldn't tell what, her lip-reading was as bad as her sign language, still.

"**Hey guys**." she tried to sound casual and that it didn't bother her she was still wheeling around. They shuffled papers away, stashing them into a bag that she eyed curiously. It was about as obvious as her dad's port, that something was up. She hadn't asked, but she was sure her dad being there was creating a fuss all of its own.

"**What w****ere ****the papers about?**" She asked, naturally.

Hizashi, appeared flustered, but her dad only warmly smiled in that way that told her he was up to something. Apparently the blond took it as a chance to get her to practice some basic sign language. Alarice stared at him blankly for a second, taken off guard, forcing him to make the gestures again.

"**...something good?**" Alarice asked, almost nervously.

Double thumbs up, probably what he meant or close enough.

"**What kind of good?**" She naturally followed up with.

He skipped trying to make her guess and instead went to writing. '**It's a surprise.**'

Alarice screwed up her face, she didn't particularly like surprises. Instead, he was back to scribbling on paper again. Her dad was now looking rather hopeful, rather than looking like he was hiding things.

'**How do you feel about seeing some of your classmates?**'

"**I..mm I guess I'm okay with seeing them. I do miss them.**" She forced that smile. Seeing some of them... she had sort of been avoiding the thoughts, but.. maybe it would be nice to see them again.

**'Great! They've been asking, Aizawa will bring some of them by tomorrow, it's a ****S****aturday.'** was Hizashi's written response.

Alarice nodded, letting them get back to whatever, and wheeling herself over to bed, flipping the brake on the stupid wheel chair, to lock it in place. Hefting herself into her bed, grateful that her arms were still strong, and savored the throb of her leg as the only 'sound' she could hear loudly enough to mean anything. With the smell of her Dad and friend/Hero bringing a sense of security, she started to doze.

The rest of her day, was fairly uneventful.

000

When it actually came time to see her classmates again, however, that mood had completely reversed. Alarice had assumed she'd be allowed to at least have crutches, but her stumbling that morning at therapy had them putting her back in the chair for at least the visit. This was unacceptable, it made her feel unequal, weak, pathetic, her mind had automatically started running through all the things...

Not to mention that small issue of not being able to hear a single friend's voice. It was still upsetting that she couldn't hear Mic, or her dad, or listen to what relaxed her, and let her get a solid, actual restful night of sleep. Forced instead to use drugs just to keep her eyes from looking like her homeroom teacher's. Now she couldn't walk reliably, or stand for any extended period, to some extent even sitting caused pain. The rest.. she hoped would just behave itself.

Her dad was taking his nap, so he would not get to meet her classmates. The nurse humiliatingly parked her by a table, they were early. Early meant she had to wait. It would have been a lot better if she didn't have to wait.

"I-I'll wait, it's okay." she offered, whether the nurse heard or not, Alarice didn't really know but she walked away all the same. In fairness, Alarice wasn't really lying about waiting.

Flipping her brake off on her chair, and quickly, before the nurse could come back, making a 'wheel' for it. She'd apologize later to them, when she would inevitably be asked later, what had happened. Alarice managed it, some how, and she suspected entirely by luck, to get herself to an outside little garden, it was cold but that didn't bother her at all.

Cold was okay, it helped her feel less hot, she hadn't noticed that she was shaking till she came to a stop. Meeting friends... shouldn't feel like this. She put her head in her hands, and tried to just breathe for a moment. A moment was awhile, as it turned out, as a gust of air brought the smell of familiarity.

000

He knew what they were wondering, thinking as he got on the bus, heading over to the hospital, like the worlds worst gaggle of ducklings, he knew it.

Bakugo knew that his class, and probably even his teacher, were wondering why the hell he'd decided to come with on the 'check on the mutt' squad. He of course knew, it was his own private business that he was going to the hospital, with the rest of the group.

The group consisted entirely of Hedgehog hair, Deku, Momo, Pikachu and Jiro. Not a huge group, but a group all the same. This was the first group, the next group would be at another time. He didn't count his Sensei, who surprisingly: looked uncomfortable and tired. Something else was going on here, something beyond just a classmate being in the hospital for two weeks and the increased skill set he was still 'working on.'

It definitely wasn't the awkward, anxious fidgeting both Jiro and Denki were doing, or ponderous concern from both Momo and Deku. Arrival at the hospital was considerably less awkward in some ways, and infuriating in others. He was not a little school boy following around his teacher on a field trip goddamnit! To his further irritation, Stone wasn't even where she was supposed to be. The nurse who was supposed to bring her looked deeply embarrassed.

"She was here, I brought her down here, not that long ago!" The nurse burst out.

Aizawa just looked annoyed that he had to suggest it, at all; "Check cameras, she's in a wheelchair, she can't go far."

The nurse nodded of course, and put that over the radio.

"If the Mutt doesn't want to see us we should just fuckin' go, then." Bakugo growled out. His classmates almost immediately, in reaction, let their opinions be known.

"I think we should at least give her 10 minutes. I'm sure she's got a reason." Jiro commented, mocking chill and settling into a chair. Denki nodding to her and settling as well, while Kirishima looked rather concerned. Midoriya of course had to start obsessing. No fucking way was he staying in this situation.

"I'm going to go take a piss." was his out-statement, Aizawa gave him a look he didn't care about, but the man didn't stop him, so it was obviously fine enough. He walked off towards the general direction of the bathroom.

Business taken care of, he could wander for a bit. It wasn't the first time he'd been in a hospital, he didn't plan to spend time waiting for the mutt. In fact, it pissed him off that she'd go and pull her run-away, and hid bullshit on them again. So instead he was going to go find her, something he wasn't going to admit to out-loud, of course.

To his surprise, she was outside, in her wheelchair, wearing simplistic clothes, loose, semi-short pants. Going outside didn't immediately get her attention, but she did look over, after a moment. Her hands were on the wheels for pushing herself, upon see him, but seemed to immediately reconsider that.

"The Fuck are you doing out here, Mutt? Everyone's pissing me off, waiting for you inside."

"I can't hear you." She said quietly to him.

"Fine, I'll come over there, don't know how you can't fucking hear me, I know your ears are more sensitive than that." He grumbled, stalking over like the juvenile delinquent he really wasn't, but totally looked and acted like most times.

"To be honest, I won't ever hear you. Or anyone again. I'm deaf." There was a casual, if upsetting, accepting shoulder shrug from her. Though the slight tremble in her lip, and that she wasn't looking at him, when she said it.

That... did catch him off guard. Aizawa-sensei had mentioned that she hadn't been well , but that was fucking obvious, she was in a hospital still. Had he mentioned the deafness? He wracked his brain for the answer, and was furious that he couldn't recall if Aizawa had mentioned it. She fidgeting about with something, however.

"You can use this. Or your phone." She held a notebook and pen, giving another, shrug trying to appear more relaxed than she clearly was. He took it from her, with an aggressive grab. This Mutt..

"I'm sorry?"

He scribbled quick and aggressively onto the paper. In English, so that it would sink into Stone's head.

'**DONT FUCKING APOLOGIZE!**'

"o-okay, I take it back then!" She bit back, but leaned away from him in her chair. Bakugo dramatically rolled his eyes and tried not to blow up the notepad as he scribbled onto it again. This was so annoying, having to write-out responses to her. What a pain in the ass.

'Why the fuck are you out here?! You're supposed to be inside, Mutt!'

"I know. I-" She rubbed at her arms nervously, her leg seemed to bother her, and she shifted, uncomfortably. Fiddling with her braid and only occasionally, looking fully at him. "I don't want anyone to see me like this, I can't really walk, or stand completely reliably."

He screwed up his face and tried not to grind his teeth, in how completely relatable that was. Sort of, he tried to push he memory right back out of his mind, it wasn't entirely relevant. It's not like what either of them went through was at all the same. She was just deaf, her annoying troll-doll of a Hero was fine.

"I just.. thought I'd be able to stand up, when I saw everyone again, t-that's all." She practically squirming with discomfort. This squishy side of Stone wasn't something he was really interested in seeing, but any amount of bitching he was going to do, was completely fruitless. That really took the wind out of his sails. Instead he just grabbed the handles on her chair, pushing her a little ways before stopping where they weren't completely in the bare-ass wind and cold. Alarice continued to talk. "Everything's... really different since I got kidnapped."

'Yeah well, you fucked-up those other stupid-ass dogs that took you guys, right?' He wrote, dropping the note in her lap.

She laughed, actually _fucking_ laughed. It sounded like this deaf mutt was laughing at him, too some how!

"Well, I did kinda, I'm pretty sure I broke one of the ribs on the hound who helped kidnap me, Denki and Shinso. Maybe three ribs. I didn't stop to count and check." She gave a chuckle, between slightly fanged teeth, that she didn't even seem to notice. Whatever. "It was Parasus who organized it, arranged for it. She really deserved an ass-kicking." He'd never heard her angry, and she wasn't really angry now, but there was some heat in there he could almost respect. Stone had in their classes been... very stone-like. So he scribbled another response down. Why not, since he was babysitting her, so she could get-over some of her shame.

'Yeah, I would have fuckin killed that bitch, for all the trouble she's fuckin caused.'

He tossed that one down to her and she caught it quickly. Her reflexes were pretty good still, so there was that. What was a little disconcerting were her claws coming out on her fingers. How long had she been capable of that amount of subtle change? Not when she'd been in class, as far as he'd recalled.

"W-well, that's the thing, I think I did kill her." She wouldn't notice, but he went as silent as the dead. For all his talk, he didn't think she'd actually respond like that. "I.. wanted to, I had my teeth buried in her neck, and I can still taste her blood in my mouth. S-Parasus killed me, and took my ear, an.. she was going to keep doing it, so, I had to stop her. I had to. I keep asking about her, but they wont tell me anything specific. I'm pretty sure she's dead though."

She was gripping the handles on her wheelchair hard, her claws were digging into the padding. Tears had come out but her face had become flushed with an anger. Staring into some middle ground, her claws digging into the arm rest, into the cushions.

"A life for a life is fair isn't it?"

Stone hadn't, in his perspective, ever been amazing at discussing her feelings, though it couldn't be said that he ever cared to ask, either. Which made this rather sudden, clearly emotional confession even weirder. The destruction of the wheelchair's arm rests weren't particularly reassuring either.

"I just can't see everyone, I can't, I'm not myself yet, I don't know why I agreed."

Bakugo, sucked in his irritation at having to deal with a crying classmate that he didn't necessarily consider friend. More like... he disliked the idea of someone who was working so hard... just losing it. He wrote the only thing he could think of to tell her, since he wasn't really good at this whole... comfort bullshit.

'did you see her body?'

Stone stared at that note for longer than he liked. He was already scribbling out his response, since he needed to get it out, quickly.

"No, I.. Aizawa-sensei's knee was in the way, an.. Sunshine had her on the ground."

Well, he'd ask about why their Sensei's knee was in the way, but decided against it. He handed her the follow-up note, any way.

'Then you didn't kill her, dumbass.'

She audibly made a noise like a sad dog, great, but she was reading it and at least was considering the words. Thank fuck for that.

"That... makes sense, too."

He wanted to bark-out that of course it did, when instead of being alone in their space, in the hospital garden, the constant irritation of Bakugo's universe showed up: Deku.

"Hey! You found her, Kacchan! 'Rice why are you out here?"

He would have killed him right then and there but, well, recent conversation had that feeling weird. There was a pop from his fist were the pen had been. The small flash and smoke clearly had Stone's attention, perhaps a bit more, it did have a nice satisfying POP to it. The event had Stone looking over to see why he'd gone and destroyed the pen, and there was Deku.

"She's deaf, Deku, you idiot." Bakugo snapped out.

"O-oh, no, is it temporary or is it... permanent?" Deku's features went from bright eyed with concern to just worried and concern for someone he clearly considered a friend. Though to the spikey blond's mind, who didn't Deku consider a friend, even to his own detriment?

"Permanent." Bakugo answered for her since the pen was now long gone.

Now he had two people looking sad and depressed around him. Fucking great. "Deku, are you useful at fuckin' all? Have you got a pen or something?"

Only he could really make an open hand threatening, but Deku had to have something to write with and sure enough he did. Handing over the pen and Bakugo immediately began writing with it.

"w-well does she-" "No, she said she didn't want to see everyone till she could walk, and they stuck her in the wheelchair, any way."

Bakugo continued to write, while he explained this. Deku just quietly offering Stone a tissue from one of his pockets.

'Mutt, the rest are just gonna follow him.'

"I know, … mm.. "

"I have an idea." Deku offered, then produced his own pen and paper to write on. Flipping to a clean page, of course, before writing down his message for Stone.

'What if we got you a spot you could lean, then you won't be in the chair, but you can sorta stand to talk to everyone.'

Stone chewed on her lip, Bakugo let out a huff of air, and crossed his arms over his chest. Getting roped into this nonsense, if she wants to be left alone, they should probably just wheel her back to her room, or whatever. Instead here was Deku, meddling.

"I.. I don't know... I.."

He let out a breath, and glared over at Deku who looked both nervous and hopeful, per the usual for him.

"I guess we could try it...but.. Its kinda weird for people to touch me."

Both boys shared a glance, one angrier than the other, but they shared it all the same. Deku was the one to finalize the response about it. 'we can figure something out around that, then.'

Bakugo rolled his eyes and stepped back, annoyed at Deku, of course, but let the other take the handles on Stone's wheelchair, wheeling her to where they could carry-out the plan, so she could meet everyone else.


	49. Free to a Good Home

Chapter 49

"Free to a good home"

They did find a spot where she could lean and keep her weight mostly on her good leg, so she could stand up with out falling over. It wasn't any less fairly painful or difficult, or awkward but between two strong boys and her own good leg they managed it. That she was deaf was certainly news to some of her classmates, obviously not Bakugo or Deku. Denki also didn't appear surprised either. Momo was as unphased about it however, rolling up her sleeves to to produce dry erase markers and incredibly simple white boards for the group so they didn't have to pass around sheets of paper or what not. Kyoka was taking It about as well as Alarice was, but everyone was calm and Alarice had to thank them for that. Not a-loud but internally.

'You Leg will get stronger again soon, you've got this!' Kirishima encouraged, Alarice noting that Everyone's marker's had been color coded for them. She hesitantly smiled at him.

"It's... something. I keep trying but I guess they did a lot to it. " Alarice paused, "Actually I don't even know. I haven't asked... Been kinda distracted with options for you know, " She gestured her to her ears. "this." She forced out an uneasy smile, that seemed go over well enough with group. Though Some were clearly disapproving that she hadn't asked if they'd done anything beyond stitching the leg up.

'How are you holding up besides?' Kyoka asked, Alarice pretending she couldn't tell that she was trying to hide concern from her.

"Holding... I guess, Mic-Sensei's teaching me sign language."

'Mic-sensei knows sign language? Wait which one?' Denki's question had been sloppily written, clearly as quickly as he could to get his thoughts out before any one else. Midoriya and Momo reading it and nodding along side.

"W.. I mean it surprised me to but yeah he's actually fluent in a lot of langauges … I didn't ask that either." Alarice's ears burned and she felt her body sweat nervously. She put her head in her hand and pretend she couldn't see Aizawa pretend to cough into his scarf. She hadn't realized it but she was just leaping at things to distract herself... which made sense but she probably should have asked.

'I bet its JSL, that would make sense, I don't think he knows ASL.' Midoriya wrote down, being the only other Hero nerd in the room who would nerd out for Present Mic with same ferocity as she would.

" Yeah but... " She stopped her thought, No one had even talked about if she was staying or leaving. Either way she would need to know one or the other, and Midoriya was probably right, Present Mic might be familiar with ASL but likely he only knew JSL well enough to teach it to her too. "I'll ask."

There was some nods, Kirishima flashed his sign first; ' If its JSL that probably means your staying, you know!?'

'If your staying you should definitely share that knowledge with us.' Denki added, scratching the back of his head. He was good with language as far as Alarice knew, so he could probably pick up on it quick. Maybe. If he paid attention. Kyoka was quick to follow up with her own purple letters.

'Yeah writing things out like this is isn't very efficient.'

Alarice let out a little snort, "Sure. I can try I guess."

'Is there anything beyond hearing aids they can give you? like... a transplant of some kind?' Kyoka asked, smudges of the previous question remaining.

"hm.. There's not anything right now that can be done for my right... it's... permanent, there's to much damage." Alarice quickly buried the thoughts, continuing, " My left isn't likely to improve either, I mean, Adaption might help me but, I mean, I wont be able to hear with it ... mostly likely it'll just make general vibrations easier to pick up." Alarice picked at her hair, trying not to think to hard about her lack of options for her hearing. " I meant that's.. that's all sound is, it's just vibrations."

There was a shrug from Bakugo who looked like he let out some sort of huff at her, or maybe at nothing, she couldn't really tell. Midoriya looked genuinely sad for her, which was.. okay. Maybe. Really the most heart broken was Kyoka. Which made sense, Music was something they did together, And Alarice was sorely missing that too every night. "Hey, Beethoven was supposedly deaf-!"

She'd taken a step with the wrong foot, out of pure habitual nature. Pain shot right up her leg, to her brain, and made her back feel like it was tingling. She wasn't sure if her face had gone white, but the look of immediate alarm in the few of her friends, said that she probably had. Her tail came out, and supported her before her heroic hopeful classmates could get to her and support her.

Her resistance to being touched didn't help but at least Midoriya patiently held the chair still while she managed into it, color now returned to her face. Which she promptly buried her hands into.

"Sorry." She mumbled out quietly breathing hard. "I think I might be done now though, for the day." Alarice's breathing was leveling out slowly, the head rush from the pain, immediate vertigo it seemed, in ability to hold hers self up for very long... and of couse that her Tail had come out. It was still sort of there, laying completely transformed now, across her legs. The Fingers on the end twitching, but the appendage itself not moving.

Aizawa seemed to nodd, and she paid more attention to than she showed. Kyoka and Denki were talking to him, trying to convince him of something it seemed. Then Kyoka explained what they had talked about, showing her the board.

'Denki and I are going to come up with you and Sensei, if that's okay.'

"Can it be just you? No offense Denki you are a good friend just... It's a bit to much already I'm sorry." She didn't take her hand of her face, and her tail hand had begun to pick at the metal on the chair, before transforming out of existence. She really hoped her classmates weren't offended, or upset. She was pretty sure Midoriya was just worried and Bakugo was the usual.

In a few moments it didn't really matter. Kyoka did the wheelchair pushing, Aizawa was walking some where nearby, he'd slip into her field of vision, a Nurse was gotten. Alarice holding her breath when they had to go through key-card sealed doors and now Kyoka was going to know how bad it was. Alarice was the most scared of her judgment, but wanting to spend just a little bit more time with her.

000

Aizawa was reading, quietly, enjoying the silence, calm, and relaxation he was able to some what get after all the drama that had gone down recently. Between the school, things he wished he could un-learn, and of course, the puppies, he'd barely had a moment. However now it was all looking up, most of the puppies, including 'Laser' had either been spoken for or adopted by other hell-hound families locally living Japan who had avoided the issues entirely. There were a few who had gone to families with similar quirks. Leaving 4 puppies to find homes or go into Foster care. Anna had some family they had managed to locate but there was some... issues with that. Still eventually, all of them would be safe some where and hopefully well loved.

Thusly the hospital didn't need him quite as much, which suited him just fine.

What did not suit him just fine was the method in which his boyfriend Yamada Hizashi decided to enter the apartment. 'mock' kicking the door open, catching it before it slammed the wall in earnest, but still be loud enough to announce one line that made Aizawa go cold, and then furious.

"GUESS WHAT AIZAWA! I ADOPTED A PUPPY!"

Hizashi caught the book Aizawa had just chucked in a Kneejerk reaction to Hizashi's announcement.

"What makes you think we are in a place to raise a child Hizashi!? OR A DOG!?"

Aizawa barked back at him, Hizashi clearly quickly and nervously regretting his poor choice of words or good news. Hizashi had the door shut quickly and both men were thankful that Hizashi's quirk was taken into consideration when this joint apartment was made for the two of them. Aizawa was glaring angrily at him, something Hizashi was clearly not prepared to face as the result of his antics. Infact he'd kind of hoped to keep Aizawa from being mad.

"okay, okay it was a poor choice of words!" Hizashi tried to calm it down in the apartment, His green eyes pleading. "I didn't adopt a dog." Aizawa inhaled so sharply, and his eyes were so full of suspicion and even anxiety, that Hizashi wrapped it up quickly; "I adopted Alarice Stone."

"You _what_."

"I... kind of became her dad now? She's my ward? Her dad gave his Parental rights over to me, The paperwork just got finalized." Hizashi was fiddling with this headphone cord. His cheeks where pink but he was keeping an eye on Aizawa who did not look pleased, or even placated in the slightest. "Her dad asked me too!"

"Did you just forget that her dad was a convicted Con-man? He offered and you just took her?" Aizawa squinted at him, but shook his head to physically rid himself of that thought. "What were you thinking Hizashi!?"

Hizashi looked at him almost with a glare, but it came out more pouty. "I was thinking her dad is dying and he wanted to protect her. I've already been in an discussion between him and Nezu about how she could stay here."

"Stay? But I'm already going to expel her, she can't be in a hero course with no control of her quirk... even if it is the result of a traumatic incident." Aizawa didn't particularly like what he was hearing. He'd been trying to find the right time to tell her, her father and finalize the whole thing. The therapist had to some degree kept him at bay in saying it though, advising that she needed something to reach for during her sensitive time of recovery.

"Nezu's aware of that, we've been discussing her either taking one of the openings in the support classes or the one Shinso just left in the General department." Hizashi gave a shoulder shrug and took off his jacket. "For the most part I just need to... Talk to her about it soon. It was basically just.. don't take her in and she goes back to the states in her terrible condition, watches her dad die and either goes into Sunshine's Care or Foster care. Or, take Stone in, she can continue some kind of education, and.. well be safe and have support even after her dad dies."

"Your that sure her Dad is actually... passing away that soon?" Aizawa asked, skeptical and crossing his arms as he tried to still figure out why his boyfriend hadn't even asked him before doing this. Probably because he would have said no, but also because Cats were fine for him.

"Well.. how old you think he is?" Hizashi asked, finally relaxing a bit as he shed off his coat and scarf.

"Late 50s, early 60s, maybe." Aizawa responded looking furiously tired now, his arms still folded despite the mewl of cocktail from the hall way. Not happy her humans were upset probably.

"He just turned 40." Hizashi put his shoes to the side and sat himself onto the couch. Death was a heavy topic for him to deal with, and recent events were not light ones, the best parts were probably the happy ends for the puppies and His student-turned-adopted-daughter not being dead herself. "He's got an aggressive cancer, they where still trying treatments but … If he was lying about anything else, he wasn't lying about that."

The whole tone in the room quickly went somber and quiet. Aizawa had no real response to that, he did not really know Jonathan Stone's health or state, Hizashi had at this point met the man far more times than he had. Instead he picked up his cat, who meowled in his deep, angry voice, as Aizawa headed ot the bedroom, stopping to lean on the door frame. "Your Sleeping on the couch to night for the puppy comment alone. Now more than before you need to treat her with more respect when talking about her."

"Right." Hizashi agreed.

"I'm taking the small group of her classmates who didn't get to visit her last time tomorrow." Shouta grumbled out, his Tomcat looking slightly displeased about being held but putting up with it for his favorite human. "If your going to visit her tomorrow, you should tell her these things and … the update about her UA situation if you can, It'll be easier for her to take if it comes from you and not from me."

"Y-yeah I was planning on that since Nezu gave us the response on where and if she could stay. He's being surprisingly kind about this honestly..." Hizashi rambled slightly.

"Nezu probably figured out how bad Alarice's situation was months ago." And that was the last bit of conversation Hizashi got out of his boyfriend before he disappeared into the bedroom. Hizashi flopping dramatically onto the couch where cocktail jumped up onto his chest happily. He really should have asked Shouta about adopting a kid before he agreed to it.

Well he wasn't going to give her back, it was way to late for that.


	50. No refunds

Chapter 50

"No Refunds"

The morning had woken up with stark, disturbing nightmares. Lots of blood and guts, again, of course. Typical affair now, but it didn't feel that typical when she was in them, it felt new and terrifying. The rest of the day, however, was going well,...so far.

'It's good to see you standing, Stone!' Iida somehow still being so stiff, despite that he seemed genuinely surprised and pleased that she was actually standing; well walking anyway. She was leaning partially onto a crutch, but she could largely walk on her own. The joy on her face for that, was definitely overriding any sense of pain she was feeling.

"Hi everyone." she responded, easing herself onto a chair, on her own. She was wearing soft pants that hid how ugly the leg still looked, while it was healing. It was still tender to the touch in a great many places on it, and the scarring was going to be considerable, no matter what she did, at this point. Luckily, none of the group was going to be seeing it, at all. Alarice would make sure of that.

This group surprisingly had Kyoka, once more, Iida, Uraraka, Mina and surprisingly Shinso. Kyoka had brought more of Sato's Cookies with her, for Alarice, a gift warmly received from her friends. She had opened them already and had one in her hand, ready to chow down on it.

'How's it been going?' Uraraka asked, written of course, on one of the dry-erase boards from last time. She was chewing on acookie, since Alarice had not wanted to hoard all of them. Tempting as that was to do.

"It's alright, kinda boring, but I'm okay. I actually want to hear.. well, read what's been happening in the classes I've been missing, I'm really curious." Alarice responded, looking hopeful, before nibbling at her cookie, in order to savor it as long as possible.

Written stories began one after the other, the room of students being pretty patient with each other, like they were in a chat room. Alarice found it nice, and was happy to hear about a life outside of her own currently dreary and boring one. Eventually, it lead into them asking about how much sign language she had now picked up, and to share some of that knowledge with them. Which she did, to the mixed reaction of: who was picking it up first, or fastest... the few simple words she knew, anyway.

Topics shifted, as Mina recounted that she had gotten a chance to play with Hell-hound puppies, and that had actually been pretty fun. Goofy and kinda destructive that they could be, but Mina just found that to be the standard for kids _and_ puppies, anyway, so what did it matter?

Shinso was the most silent, besides their teacher, who had accompanied them, , and then dropped-off to sleep, on the nearby bench. Alarice's claws came out a little bit, but she tried to not let it freak her out, more; calming herself down, enough, that nothing else showed. No one else seemed to notice or say anything either, so that helped a little.

000

Once her friends were gone, she was as usual, left alone with her thoughts.

She fiddled with her blanket from her dad, then fiddled with her hair, and then just felt genuinely anxious. There was nothing to really break-though, she had picked-at and picked holes in a lot of things around her, or that she was wearing. She had talked to her therapist about the negative and depressed thoughts being around her classmates had brought on.

She couldn't compare to their shine, their confidence, she just couldn't. Something was just missing from her now, she felt. Thinking about it, brought tears to Alarice's eyes. It wasn't fair, none of it was fair.

Life was never fair to her.

Still despite how upset she had gotten, and her agreement with the therapist's very reasonable suggestion. Confliction so tightened her rib cage, she thought she was going to stop breathing from the pressure. She practiced her breathing exercises and dreaded seeing Hizashi and her dad, a little later today.

She'd been able to hide the feelings, a bit, but once she had spoken about them to Bakugo, the cat had escaped the bag. Now, it was clawing endlessly at her thoughts and mind, and it was a force of will that her friends had only seen just her own claws.

Despite this, she didn't not want to see them, she wanted to see people very badly, in fact. Just, Alarice knew that she would have to say this terrible thing, very soon. How could someone, like her, someone weak enough to be a victim, and weak enough she killed her own sister, be a Hero to anyone. She wiped her face on her blanket before hobbling to the bathroom to wash it. Walking was getting easier, at least. The cane helped a lot.

Hizashi showed up, bright toothy smile, warm presence and everything. '_Hello_' He signed, Alarice responded back, though with some hesitation. Though his thumbs-up that she was doing just fine brought a nervous smile out. Alarice let him just lead into showing her more sign language, even though she was increasingly distracted.

Hizashi apparently had caught-on, after a short bit. This wasn't any kind of official class, he didn't have a time frame, or an exact schedule. Alarice was picking it up pretty quickly, though her comfort in signing, herself wasn't very good. At the moment, she was only barely paying attention.

'_What's on your mind?_' He finally signed at her, she could reliably understand that much, though the tablet was right there, and he was prepared to use it. The gears slowly turned in Alarice's mind before she finally asked the question she should have asked before.

"Which sign Language _am I learning_, Hizashi-sensei?"

Hizashi paused for a second, looking confused, Alarice watching him carefully for response and trying not to look like a sad puppy.

'_It's Japanese Sign Language,_' was his signed response, looking a little concerned, himself now. Alarice was a little quietly proud of herself that she got that on the first try. Then saddened about it, just as quickly.

"But... I'm probably going to go back to the States. It won't be any good for me there, will it." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her expression and voice, and could tell by his face, she hadn't managed it. He looked like he'd just heard bad news about one of his cats. The cats she absolutely knew he kept with Shouta, having seen his lock-screen briefly. Then again, she had sort of known, for awhile, it was a nicer thought than the ones that plagued her constantly.

He seemed flustered and he immediately took to his tablet.

'What makes you think you're going back to the states?'

He looked very concerned; in fact, he looked like he was trying hide something. Alarice was very confused, not understanding. She'd not heard she was going to be expelled for losing control of her quirk. She'd continued to see her classmates even, but as the weeks were adding on, of her being at the hospital, she hadn't heard yay or nay on going back to UA. She'd heard absolutely nothing in fact, and really, until today, she had been too terrified to ask. She already was living a mountain of shame for the events on the island. With the added knowledge she was going to ask to drop the Hero course entirely, made it nearly impossible to deal with

Except, of course, now it was hard to get it out of herself. Instead, curling-up on herself, and letting it out in a little voice.

"I'd like to drop out of the Hero Course."

She let out a sniffle, a bit too scared to see what expression was there. IF she was simply calling-out a situation that was going to happen anyway, or if by some stretch of reality wasn't the case, and now she was killing her own career. She didn't know, she didn't want to know, either way was too painful. Instead, more words slipped out of her: "I'm sorry to disappoint you and everyone, I don't want to leave, but if I'm not here for that, then I have to go back with my dad. He'll need me back home, I wont be able to do this, anymore."

It wasn't really the reason, but it wasn't exactly a lie, either. She couldn't see or hear him tapping on the screen, and she barely responded to his gentle tap on her shoulder. Uncurling when the tapping became insistent.

'I'm not disappointed in you.'

"My dad will be."

'No, I don't think he will either' Hizashi typed out in a quick motion. Though Alarice noted the slight relief in his face. It wasn't enough to make her feel much better about what she was saying, if he knew the real reason, he wouldn't disagree. He added more. 'A lot of Heros, fully professional, stop being Pros for good reasons. You have several good reasons, and it doesn't have to be a forever choice.'

Alarice read it twice, looked at him, the wall, curled-up legs, tucking herself into a ball again. She shouldn't tell him. She couldn't tell _him_. He didn't need to know, he shouldn't know, not any of it. Except that it was eating her inside, the fear of her dad, her hero, her terrifying teacher finding out, Her friends, Kyoka. Only a tiny part of the demon that had settled in her heart had come out of her, when it had just been her and Bakugo, and she was sure he wouldn't tell anyone else.

"E-even if it's because I was too weak to save myself, and that I killed my sister?"

Alarice peeked over cautiously, to see him typing, erasing, then typing again, then with a sigh looked over at her, catching her peeping eyes from over her arm. The bright screen read words that no one had actually said to her, yet.

'You didn't kill your sister. She killed herself.'

Alarice read that, and looked at the words shocked, looking up at him, her eyes wide with surprise and shock. "like.. she ?" He rapid-fired out a response quickly, looking a bit anxious, himself.

'I don't know a lot about it, but she got loose when they were trying to transport her, and jumped into the water, where they lost track of her. Her body washed-up a few days later.' Alarice had to ponder that, her jump into ocean herself, had either encouraged her infection that took her other ear, or caused it. They'd both jumped off ships to escape, but one of them got to live, afterwards. He added more to his statement; ' We avoided telling you, to keep you from stressing yourself out'

"Oh."

'You're also not at fault, or weak, for the things she had done to you, either.' That line did catch her off-guard, and she looked at him very seriously. Trying to figure out how much he knew, was he referring to her ear, only? He put the tablet down with another message. 'You can talk about any of it, any time, just say so, but you're not weak.'

Alarice couldn't help it, sniffling back tears, and feeling her claws come out again. Resting her cheek on her folded arms. "Is it okay if I don't, right now?"

' of course (: '

She let out a wet snort of a laugh and hid the rest of her face. Going quiet for a moment, which she was sure was awkward for him, he never seemed comfortable in dead silence. Though maybe it wasn't as dead as it was for her. "Isn't that I'm... giving up a sign I was always too weak for it?"

He gave her a look that had her concerned for a moment, before his mouth sort of ticked upward in an expression that was like a disapproving smirk. 'No, it doesn't. It means you're strong enough to make these choices for yourself, you could have just let someone else decide for you.'

Alarice didn't know what to think about those words, recollecting herself then, in the reasonable next thoughts. Her new trajectory in life.

"I... I still have to go back to the states, if I'm not in UA.. But at least I'm not staying with Sunshine." Though staying with her dad for.. however long that would be wasn't thrilling thought, either. Nevermind how that would work, you needed to be able to drive, where they lived, and she didn't know how to drive, yet. It was going to be hard.

Hizashi looked uncomfortable, too. That made her even more sad, he was probably actually disappointed in her, too. Maybe it was pity, that would, sort of make sense, if he felt bad for her. She felt bad for herself, which only made her feel worse, of course. "Can you tell Aizawa-sensei I'm sorry? I know he's going to be disappointed in me, but I can't tell him in person, it's to m-"

She stopped speaking as he thrust the tablet at her with its fresh message on it. 'You aren't leaving! You can transfer to either General Studies or Support, if you want. There's an open seat in either department. Your grades are high enough for the Support dept.'

"I.. Uh.. what?" Alarice couldn't help looking at him blankly, like he had just offered her drugs instead of opportunities to stay at the school. He made a face at her, and Alarice found herself going back to her old habit of imitating a wooden statue. She.. could stay?

From the doorway came her father. He spoke to Hizashi, but all she could make out was that he was probably just greeting him. It was weird, actually, Hizashi and her dad were getting along really well? Perhaps it was their personalities complimented each other, and they were becoming friends? That was a little weird to think about, her dad becoming friends with her hero. As weird as it was realizing he was a friend, already, to her.

Her dad patted her head gently has he rolled up, looked at the tablet, and then smiled broadly at her. He added on his own message to the bottom. '**I've been talking with the principal about it, he's fine with whic****he****ver one you choose.**'

"**what like.. you guys **_**knew **_**this would happen?**" Alarice, now was worried that it was 'acceptable' because literally _som__eo__ne_ had already made the decision and she just finalized it before someone told her. She looked at both of them fairly accusatory, the roller coaster of her day taking her right back down again. The two men looked at each other, one slightly more accusatory than the other but when Hizashi went for the tablet, Jonathan already had it and was typing away.

'**It was being suggested that you should be advised to step away from the hero cours****e, ****for awhile. These were the alternatives suggeste****d, i****f you wished to stay.**' was about what she read, before the poor tablet fell to the floor, when it slipped from her dad's fingers, her own, and Hizashi fumbled it. It recovered, but with a crack in the corner. She could see Hizashi mouth the word 'oops' and then just shrug before settling down.

"**but... dad... How are you going to pay for it?**" Alarice asked, while Hizashi busied himself with cleaning up his tablet, since it had fallen on the floor. Jonathan looked over at Hizashi suddenly with a serious, if slightly confused, look. Alarice looked to her Hero, and he looked down at her.

A Mexican stand-off of silence, and looks, at each other. Alarice being confused, Jonathan looking somewhat annoyed, and also confused, Hizashi looking like he wanted to bolt. His ears turned red, as he typed on the tablet, before showing her the good news.

'**I'm legally your dad now.**'

"**you're **_**what**_**.**"


	51. Move In, Move out

Chapter 51

"Move In, and Move out."

Hizashi did not stay in the room much longer than that. Jonathan didn't seem quite too pleased with him for avoiding telling Alarice, and the new daughter seemed... mostly bewildered. There was also the not-so-small fact that this utterance of the new reality was an upsetting reinforcement of Jonathan's mortality.

Leaving the room created its own conundrum, what would he do afterwards in regards to Alarice? She was his kid, now, too. Shouldn't he do something about these feelings? Or was he going to need to support her emotionally more, now, AND financially? Hadn't he already been doing enough?. Jonathan was dying... he was going to have to deal with that, one way or another, he realized. That brought memories of helping his mom with her parents, back in the states, the second time going to help put grandma to rest. Then, his grandad's funeral, and that had been a trial, all of its own... The train of thought continued on to darker thoughts that he had to shake out of his head. Instead, walking away down the hallway to get something to drink.

When he came back, tears had mostly dried up. Mostly, Alarice was still occasionally rubbing at her eyes. Jonathan's ice blue eyes had red around them, he'd been crying, himself. The tablet was out, though, and they had the information out about the Support Department on it.

"**Mr Hizashi if you'd come explain some more details of things to us, so Alarice can make her decision.**" Jonathan patted Alarice's shoulder and she looked up, at that. Her claws had come out, once again, but that was starting to become so normal that they didn't notice. If it stayed at that, well, that wasn't a problem.

"**Oh sure, yeah.**" Hizashi responded, giving a thumbs up to the pair, before quietly settling into his spot again, to show and explain to both. He noticed that Jonathan was making a lot of effort to make Hizashi take part in, what he realized was, a very normal thing for FAMILIES to do: talk about their kid's future.

They went over Alarice's options, discussed it with her as best they could, with limited means, though Alarice was getting better with the sign language. As the conversation came to an end, and she was still on the fence, there was a weird placid calm in the room. It was welcome given all the drama. There would be more drama, probably, but... he felt... confident about the future in regards to taking care of this new baby.

New baby, who wasn't at all a baby, and was a nearly fully grown young woman who needed support.

Though, he had left out that he was going to be her new Homeroom teacher. Sure, he was part of the Hero department, but he also home-roomed for the Support Class she was going to. He was, after all, a Hero who really needed his support gear, and had worked with his designers when it was made for him.

000

"I do not see why I need to help with this." Aizawa stated blandly, while Hizashi came in behind him, with Jonathan wheeling himself in, right behind. Hizashi gently laying the folded cardboard boxes down, to be put together, while Jonathan wheeled all the way in, and set himself to locating the suitcases he'd need to pack up her clothes for her. Aizawa stood there semi-awkwardly in the room, it was only a few steps away from being as bad as Midoriya's room.

"More hands is always helpful!" Hizashi responded, trying to be cheerful about it. "Besides, I mean, she's part of my family now..." His cheeks flush and he looked away from Aizawa, still upset with himself for not talking to him about adopting Alarice. Aizawa, himself, let out a big sigh, finally.

"I'm sorry I called Alarice a Puppy, the other night." Hizashi finally admitted, rubbing his arm nervously, while the door shut gently behind him. He grabbed his own box to open up, so he could put some of the toiletries into it. The stuff she hadn't gotten moved to the hospital, anyway. It wasn't much, so it was easy to do. He could also, more importantly, hide himself in the bathroom for a brief moment, while he apologized.

"You've already been forgiven for that." Aizawa stated sleepily as he took the embarrassing task of taking down two Mic figurines, and engaging, with a dead glare, at the ugly Mic plush, on her bed.

"**What are you ****two**** talkin' about?**" Jonathan asked them, a tone of sarcasm in his voice.

"**Hizashi called Alarice a puppy. It was in poor taste.**" Aizawa stated, placing the plush into the box face down. Only to jump at Jonathan's boisterous laughter at the statement. Hizashi poking his head out of the bathroom, and putting the now full-ish box of stuff to the side. He faintly said '**what**?'

"**That's not that bad, I call her a puppy all the time, cuz she's still a little pup.**" Jonathan wiped a tear from his laughter out of his eye.

"**Little?**" Hizashi offered from the door way, while Aizawa just continued to pack miscellaneous items away, while he listened.

"**Haha, ****s****he is,**" Jonathan wiped his hand over his nose, while he, with some interesting dexterity for a wheelchair-bound man, dropped open the suitcase for her clothes. "**Compared to my younger brother, she's a little thing!**" His statement ended with more laughter.

"**How big is your brothe****r, ****then?**" Hizashi asked, sweating just a little. He'd gotten involved in this family, and he was learning something terrifying and new every day.

"**Carl's a Giant ****too,**** of course, so, ****p****retty big. Bigger than me, really and I'****m a b****it bigger than a horse.**" Jonathan started carefully managing clothes into the suitcase. "**I haven't seen my brother in a long time, lost contact with him right before the pack was disbanded, but he'd been M.I.A. ****f****or awhile. He's probably still alive, I can feel it. Point is, Carl is the biggest Hell-hound to ever live, so fa****r, ****an****yw****ay." **Jonathan's voice became melancholic, while he continued to empty the drawer. Aizawa and Hizashi briefly shared a quiet glance at each other, in question on how big Alarice's Uncle Carl was. Alarice was still young, still growing, Her form was already, pretty intimidatingly, large in height. Aizawa had told him about Parasus's big, bulky and frankly terrifying size and appearance. As well as the uncomfortable description of her scorpion tail and the size of it's stinger.

Quietly, Hizashi was thankful she wasn't going to be bothering anyone else, ever again.

When Hizashi looked up again, to find the next thing he should help pack-up, he let out a yell of a normal human volume, and pointed aggressively at the poster on the wall.

The old, worn poster, clearly was occasionally rolled and currently framed on the wall to preserve it. He glared back at the visage of himself, bad hair-do, and about a million more studs than necessary, on his person. "**How THE HELL ****did you get h****er THAT ****poster****!? T****hey were**** a LIMITED RUN! ****And a****VI****SUAL ****T****RAGEDY! **"

Hizashi only stopped when Aizawa hit him in the back of the head with a small black throw pillow. "Stop yelling."

Jonathan just started laughing at Hizashi's expression and reaction. "**She loves that poster, she told m****e, ****when I managed to get i****t, t****hat you didn't wear that uniform an****ym****ore, and that it was old. She still got so excited about it. Don't worry ****H****ero, not everyone can age with grace.**"

Hizashi made a face, Jonathan's blue eyes glittered back with teasing maliciousness and Aizawa let out a snort. Following up his nasal expression with actual words; "**The benefits of forgoing showy ****H****ero stuff.**"

Their little commentary and discussion of the poster had distracted the two Heros, and one hell-hound father, from the door opening to the horrified expression of two teenagers. Uraraka and Midoriya standing there, with their already adorably big eyes, even more big, and worried.

"Alarice isn't coming back?" was Uraraka's soft question, when Aizawa saw them staring into Alarice's room. All of the adults were now looking at the intruding teens, though Hizashi was doing it from the angle of quickly getting the poster down, and covering it up with a blanket.

"She's not." Aizawa responded simply, Hizashi jumping-in before he could finish, with an explanation.

"She's not leaving the school! She'll still be here!"

"So, she's leaving the Hero course." Midoriya put together, looking still pretty sad about it, but not too surprised. After all, the conversation at the hospital, hadn't been that happy before they got her back to the group. "If she's still going to be at the school, she'll be at another dorm... can we help move her in?"

"That's fine by me!" Hizashi stated, before Aizawa could answer, and Jonathan looked curious about the kids. Hizashi waved them over quickly. "**Uraraka, Midoriya, this is Alarice's dad, Mr. Stone.**"

The two kids politely greeted him back, giving their names in their best English, which made Hizashi practically beam with pride. So much so, he almost forgot about the picture frame with the blanket on it. Remembering just in time, to move it, himself, so no one else had to see it.

"Are we putting her room back together in the other dorm room, or … ?" Uraraka asked, helping get some of the clothes into the suitcase. Aizawa felt his eyes roll up into his head, then finally let out a sigh. He did not sign up for this...

"I think we're just putting stuff there, and letting her handle the rest.." Hizashi answered, ignoring the way Midoriya was mumbling, and mentioning all the bits of memorabilia Alarice had of Present Mic. Occasionally, he was clearly speaking some English, and Jonathan was having a good time telling the teen about when Alarice obtained some of them. Though, it was unclear how much either understood the other without listening in hard.

"What if we set it back up, too? That way she doesn't have to worry about it." Uraraka suggested, while making a side-eye to the still out-on-the desk bits of dj-esque sound equipment one would use to make remixes. Not terribly cheap, either, and kept in almost pristine condition, despite clearly being used. Other items including a few thumb drives and an external CD-drive were close by. CD's neatly labeled and stacked and the little thumb drives had some labeling on them. Hizashi had admittedly been avoiding looking at that, mostly out of how sad it looked. Her work station was just there, sitting, waiting for her to come back and do her thing, and it just wasn't going to be happening.

"**What did she say?**" Jonathan asked, Hizashi nearly sticking his own thumb with the removed thumbtack from the wall.

"**She was saying we could set up her room for he****r, ****in the new dorm room.**"

"**oooh that sounds like a good idea, I bet she'd appreciate it.**" Jonathan responded, though there was a hint of fatherly concern in his voice. Hizashi translated it over anyway for Uraraka just in case.

Aizawa rolled his eyes into the ceiling and completed, gently, stashing away the miscellaneous objects into the box.

The movements of packing up all of Alarice's room and things attracted the attention of more and more of 1-A to the second floor of the girls wing. Kyoka came in almost as if she had run up there. She had positioned herself to packing up the electronics, with delicate care and pointed out that one stack of CD's was hers.

Momo, Iida, Kaminari and Kirishima were quick to follow as soon as they weren't busy with something. By the end, there was almost like a little ant train of students carrying boxes, or in the case of Kirishima and Iida, caring an entire book shelf, all the way to the new Dorm building. The students of 1-G were watching this, and definitely talking about how it looked like an army of ants.

Once into the room, Kyoka had taken point on getting her room set back up alongside Alarice's Dad. Meanwhile, a steady stream of items came out of 1-A's dorm and into the new room in the other dorm building. Everything was going smoothly. Though Hizashi had taken control over the blanket-draped framed poster that none of the students had seen. Waiting even till the room was completely done to hang it up.

Though for all his effort to hide the embarrassing old image, and even an attempt to remove it eternally, blocked by Aizawa, he was not successful in hiding it forever. True, Jonathan and Kyoka had seen it already, but now a few more eyes saw it. Midoriya saw it and Kaminari saw it when the blanket came off too early. The latter unable to hold in his laughter. "I guess that's why they tell us our hero costumes are gonna change!"

"Shut it! Have some respect!" Hizashi howled back at the blond, who only laughed harder. Midoriya stood there red in the face, and said nothing, though, he was a little envious of the poster.

With the help of 14 teenagers and the three adults, Alarice's new room was ready for her. Though some new items were alongside the old, and some remained in their boxes, like the headphones and sound equipment.

Jonathan, Hizashi, and Aizawa and the 14 teenagers were now imbibing in earned pizza. Hizashi was buying and Aizawa was just eating the free food presented to him. The three adults were settled off to the side privately, while the teenagers were eating and having their own gab-fest about something unrelated.

"**Jonathan, I wanted to ask... um... do you have any advice for me?**" Hizashi asked, anxiously, between bites.

Jonathan smiled broadly and his blue eyes glinted; "**Not got much for ya, Mr ****M****ic. Be patient with 'em?**" He continued to smile and let out a few happy chuckles. "**Just do what comes naturally to you, Yo****u're ****a ****H****ero and a teacher, you'll figure it out.**"

Hizashi glared at him, almost, that was not the advice he wanted. Aizawa tuned-out this conversation. He had already been accused so often of being Eri's dad that he didn't feel like he needed to ask these kinds of questions. Nevermind that Alarice was nearly full grown and Hizashi was just over-thinking it. Probably.

"**Is that really all you have?**" Hizashi grumbled out, trying not to look let down.

"**Yup.**" Responded the old hound. "**From the looks of things you'll be fine.**"

"**Yeah but, I,...**" Hizashi screwed up his face in thought. "**You know, you talked me into this and all you have is 'I'll figure it out'?!**" He winced at the elbow he got from Aizawa. 1-A didn't need to know the new awkward situation that Hizashi was now Alarice's Dad, Legally anyway.

Jonathan didn't seem to feel the same about the other kids knowing, or Hizashi's frustration, instead smiling more.

"**I did! And I picked well!**" Jonathan's teeth showed in full and it looked a little animalistic, but it subsided quickly, to a more peaceful look. Old memories surfacing as he calmed down. "**I'll tell ya something then, i****t**** might have seemed like I have more experience, because of my having two daughter****s. ****But I don't. I didn't want Parasus, and I did very little with he****r,**** until she was forced into my house with Miranda and Alarice. Alarice was an accident, the product of an impatient Hero, a turncoat villain.**"

Hizashi went a little quiet, he hadn't expected to so forwardly hear that.

"**Alarice was a happy accident, don't get me wrong. An' I asked that same question to Miranda's dad, since my own would have ripped my leg off for tryin' to keep such a valuable pup out of the pack. He gave me the same answer, thoug****h**** a bit more roughly. You do, figure it out on your own, its just the anxiety of the thing getting you.**" Jonathan stated, then started to laugh again. "**At leas****t, ****yo****u're**** getting' her as a teen! Hah! You don't have to deal with a small puppy-child trying to gnaw your leg off and being a genuine little pain in the ass. Once, ****s****he got stuck in a tree when she was three. Couldn't figure out how to get down, Miranda had to calm the neighbors, since I went full form to coax the little pup down where I could reach her. Freaked them the hell out. Had to mov****e,**** after that.**"

Aizawa made an expression off to the side, thinking of the puppies he'd spent time baby-sitting. They had all gone some where now, by a stroke of good luck all of them had made it to someone, happy and willing to take care of them. He wished those families luck and he hoped they had a lot of patience.

Hizashi just looked some mix of confused and somehow relieved. "**W****ait, your dad would rip your leg off? Alarice was valuable?**"

"_**All**_** puppies are valuable.**" Jonathan stated, almost defensively, or perhaps protectively. "**Or kids, but ye****s, ****to a degree, Hell-hound Giants aren't carried particularly well by their non-hell-hound mothe****rs,**** as it turns out. Parasus's birt****h-m****other died in childbirth, my Father's mother died delivering him. It works out better if the mother is a hell-hound, or seems to, we're kind of big babies when we're born.. 'cept my brother Carl. Tiny when he came out.**"

Jonathan seemed lost in thought for a second and Hizashi considered that thought, for a bit. Then Jonathan went right back into it without even stopping to see if Hizashi was listening, scratching at his chin.

"**Miranda was a special, strong woman. Had hardly an issu****e, ****but perhaps that was her own quirk protecting her. Who knows. I'm proud Alarice carries her eyes and her quirk, even if she never directly has kids of her own.**" He let out a soft sigh, and rubbed at his eyes for a moment. "**Sorry I'm an old guy getting lost in his own thoughts again.**"

"**Er.. uh.. don't worry about it... I guess thanks for the puny advice.**" Hizashi muttered back before Kirishima walked over, and asked almost overtly politely if he could know more about Hell-hounds from Jonathan, which was easily given, though Hizashi noted Jonathan easily gave a more PR friendly amount of detailed info. He was incredibly practiced, in fact. Hizashi only helped-out with some of the conversation as translator.

Aizawa, next to him, relaxed into a light sleep. Things would be fine, he was at least mostly sure of that.


	52. The End

Chapter 52

"The End"

Returning to school, to whatever drama was playing out in the real world after what felt like an eternity, felt like the first day she'd shown up at the school. Hizashi had been almost smothering in his energy, he'd had to repeat his signs a few times before she got them. Compared to her math skills, language was still easier for her and she had become, for the most part, able to carry most of a simple conversation in Sign language. Hizashi just went so incredibly fast for her. To her incredible surprise, Aizawa knew the same sign language, and was considerably slower than Hizashi.

Though she was still too guilt-ridden about giving up the Hero course to actually ask if he would help her practice. Somewhere inside, she knew he would probably accept the request, but another part... disagreed.

Moving into her new dorm room went incredibly smooth. 1-G's building didn't have the same air that 1-A's did, but there was a calm to it that the other lacked. Not to mention someone had left her a basket of fruit, which was very much okay with her.

Coming back on a weekend was also helpful, easing her back into the school life, letting her have a private space, for the first time in nearly a month, to herself. The privacy was something she deeply welcomed. Though Alarice found herself putting the little name plate on her door, with the little text underneath it stating she was a deaf resident, and hitting a little button that had been set up to flash a light inside, instead of a little bell.

The next step surprised even her, because crutches and all... she went downstairs.

To be amongst her new dormmates.

She tried not to be loud when she entered, as was habit. Then, the new-forming habit, she eased up on herself, when she was fairly sure she wasn't. New faces turned to her, and two of them smiled broadly.

'_Y__o__u're __new to 1-__G, __right_?' signed the one with the bright purple hair.

'_Yes_' Alarice signed back, not knowing if they were deaf or mute themselves, or just trying to be polite to her.

'_I'm __Matsushita Michiko_ _' _she gave a smile back at Alarice, and nudged the other person. _'This is __Takeshita Akio_ _, What brings you to support?'_

Alarice paused then, she hadn't thought up a script to tell anyone. She shifted on her feet and decided._ 'I had an accident, but I still want to help people, and I'm creative.'_

Reading people had gotten easier, for obvious reasons, and neither peer seemed to bothered that she didn't go into detail. Instead, they waved her down, to come look at their notes and show her their projects from last semester. Alarice hid her alarm well, when they not so subtly suggested that if she couldn't compete with Hatsume, then that was fine. Apparently she was notorious within her own department as well.

The real surprise was her first homeroom which, to her amazement, had her new legal dad as teacher. He didn't seem to mind, he didn't even act all that different, besides notably communicating in-time with himself, while he spoke with sign language. To her relief, he made no calling-out beyond the necessary introductions about her joining them, and the day went on.

Though, even with an up-beat morning that she only wished she could hear, the silent support was welcome and better than none. Knowing she wasn't the only teen who required JSL to communicate, was also a strange relief, even if she had found that out, the other day. She could tell by the way Mic's lips moved in unfamiliar shapes that JSL, English and Japanese weren't the only languages he spoke during his homeroom. His homeroom was special perhaps, having deaf or mute students in it, and perhaps one or two students who weren't completely fluent in Japanese or English, enough yet.

Still, that set of thoughts trailed into other thoughts, and she wondered what Jiro was doing. She wondered what kind of things Mina had learned to do while she was gone. Her brain kept doing it through-out the day, till lunch, haunting her with her not-quite dead desire to be a Hero. Following-up with the punch that her loss of control was unacceptable for a Hero, and that getting it back was paramount, even if she wasn't a Hero hopeful any longer.

Her new course load that she was getting introduced to was different and more complicated than she would have thought, but not so much she didn't feel overwhelmed. She knew she would always miss making music, but perhaps making something else could become just as involving?

When lunch of her first day rolled around, she found herself desperately missing her previous Hero course classes, missing everything. Though her depression over what she didn't have was powerful, it wasn't more powerful than the friendships she had made while she had been in 1-A. Finding herself almost physically dragged, in awkward silence, as neither Kirishima or Uraraka seemed to say anything... But maybe it wasn't. There was a smile tugged on their cheeks, and no one was frowning or looking uncomfortable when they squeezed her into the seating.

The Hero course she could quit, the friendships she had made there, she could not.

Things would be different now, of course. Support was a different beast than the Hero department, and while UA always seemed favor the latter, there was immense care and support for their students in any department. She never lacked the tools she needed to do the work assigned. When she was reminded of the ordeal, without friends to distract herself with, she only buried herself further into getting better at lip-reading, JSL, (when she felt confident with that, she'd move onto ASL) and her Support course work. Applying herself as deeply as possible. Perhaps also, having your "dad" as your homeroom teacher, provided some constant comfort. Seeing a therapist was probably also helping her out considerably.

Her father had been generously paid to stay in Japan by someone, and he never said who, though his condition did not improve. Alarice did not pry further, him staying there during his limited time was something she was very grateful for, as well. Sunshine had never made contact with them again, as far as she knew, and that was perfectly fine too, after what she had done.

Hizashi apparently still owned a house, a nice house Alarice had never seen, or heard of. Made for himself, with special glass and special architecture to keep reverberation down, and sound-proof it. Further to her surprise, during that brief visit, a room had been made-up for her, (with dark-pink walls that she didn't know how to feel about) so she didn't have to worry about not having a safe place to call home. There was still the awkwardness of the fact her Hero had adopted her, and moved her into his house, without a second thought.

No one was really sure how to deal with the tears, once she saw the room and was told this was her home, too.

Nor the second time, when she'd met her 'new grandparents', Hizashi's mother and father. Who were absolutely excited to meet her, and she'd not-quite burst into tears. It was not too easy explain to these sweet people why, either.

Things after it all, seemed liked they were going to be just fine.

* * *

Thank you everyone for reading my first published fanfic! It's been a ride and I really hope you enjoyed it.


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